Practical Computing 1984 February 02

CHIPS — special 12-page guide to CPUs

Exclusive reviews: Multi-user Seiko 8600
New 64K Tandy Color Computer LSI Octopus

Save ©n heating bills with a BBC Micro

Interfacing Apple II Commodore 64 games

Denmark DKr34.50, Greece Dra 245, Holland DFL8.50, Italy L41GG, Spain Pis 360, Switzerland SFr7.4G, Germany DM8,50, France Fr32*G0 s Canada C$4,50,

Australia AS3.00, Singapore MS6.35, USA $3.95(072162)

February 1984
Volume 7 Issue 2

If you've ever lost data due to a faulty disk, you know how
important reliability can be.

That's why Accutrack disks are critically certified at 2-3
times the error threshold of your system. Why they're
precision fabricated for higher signal quality, longer life and
less head wear. And why we take such extra steps as testing
single-density mini disks at double-density levels. So you don't
have to worry about the reliability of your media.

Accutrack disks. OEMs have specified them for years. You
can trust them for your data.

Distributed in the United Kingdom by:

Penbie International (C.A.) Ltd.

23 Addington Road
Reading RG 1 5PZ
Berkshire
Tel: (734) 664361

03 ACCUTRACK

Oil Dennison KYBE (UK)

9 Colonial Way
Watford WD2 4JY
Tel: (923) 50596
Telex: 923321

Offices and representatives worldwide

• Circle No. 101

Li 3 i

>NEWS

* ^ HARDWARE NEWS

1 J More new micros, including
professional models from Tandy and
Texas, plus the Koala graphics tablet
for the Commodore 64.

SOFTWARE NEWS

1 Digital Research's new
languages, compilers for the
Commodore 64 and Apple program
generators.

PRINTOUT EXTRA
*.27 VISITS DEBENHAMS

Glyn Moody on how a major chain
store is aiming for business buyers.

>|Q IBM PC NEWS

H’jy More details of the XT/370,
more look-alikes, more add-ons and
more software.

>REVIEWS

Cfl IBM PC JUNIOR

3 V More details of the
forthcoming Peanut — the newest
low-cost PC-compatible micro.

NEW 64K TANDY

O** COLOR COMPUTER 2

A hands-on review of a micro
launched at the Which Computer

Show.

CC LSI OCTOPUS

VD EIGHT/16-BIT MICRO

An expandable British micro,
previewed by Glyn Moody.

Tffl SEIKO 6800
/ U MULTI-USER MICRO

We set a pair of reviewers
working together on this smart new
Japanese machine.

NEC’S MODEL 8201A 'j£

/ LAP COMPUTER A

Chris Bidmead compares the NEC
offering with its brother, the Tandy
Model 100.

BBC DIARY

h i m m Battery- backed ROM
makes life pleasant for Neville

Maude, trying out the Acacia diary.

o WINDOWS IN VISI ON J,

M O Ian Stobie looks at '

Visicorp’s long-awaited Lisa-like
integrated software Visi On, and its
forthcoming competitors.

iiQ COMMODORE 64
1 I O GAMES
Paul Bond tried over 30 games for
the 64. This is his selection.

4 BOOK REVIEWS

lUI 8086/8 ASSEMBLER

Paul Myerscough reviews books for
programmers of the IBM PC and
similar 16-bit micros.

Qyi FICTION

TOMORROW’S WORLD

Andrew Walker’s latest story explores
the world somewhat beyond 1984.

ALL YOU NEED TO
I KNOW ABOUT CPUs

Ray Coles presents a special 1 2-page
guide to the major microprocessors,
including eight-bit favourites like the
Z-80 and MOS 6502, and the popular
16-bit types currently competing for a
share in the market.

FEATURES

CJC-QO
EIE2^ES

i_ l_ ....

_? ; -i . L-. i~, P P P *F

Csl! • uu- ui li_ 88 B1 0

I I £.

QA TOP 10

POCKET A BLES

Ian Stobie surveys the pocket -
computer world to see what’s
available.

REGULARS

c EDITORIAL — TOP 10

J Do we need lists of the top
micros and software? If so, who
should prepare it?

7 FEEDBACK

The morality of war games is
among the topics raised by readers
this month.

QA INSURING
OU YOUR MICRO

Ian Hopkins provides a guide to
keeping your micro covered.

^88

82

SAVE MONEY ON
CENTRAL HEATING

Use John Smith’s BBC Micro
program before you call in the
plumbers.

or APPLE 11
OO INTERFACING

Part 1 of a beginners’ guide to the ins
and outs of connecting an Apple to
the outside world.

PROGRAMMING AN
INDEX

How to use the Soundex algorithm to
code a useful phone index or similar
database, with a listing for the Pet.

tZO

CHIP-CHAT
\\3I THE TRANSPUTER

Ray Coles’ monthly column turns to
I nines and the British challenge.

^PROGRAMMERS’ PAGES

TABLE MANNERS

Mike Lewis introduces a new
monthly column written from the
programmer’s point of view.

OPEN FILE
SOFTWARE

Listings for the BBC, Apple,
Commodore, Sharp, Sinclair, Atari,
Newbrain and Tandy.

^ Tf ^ LAST WORD

I # Chris Naylor, expert -
systems expert, plans to computerise
the human brain.

Thanks to Motorola, Intel, Zilog,
Maplin, and Rapid Terminals for
supplying the processors shown on
the cover.

£129

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February J9S4

3

You’ve a deadline to meet,
the right CP/M Software pack-
age is needed, the right decision has to
be made; which format, which product,
when can it be delivered, at what price?

You need good advice, and just as
important, you need to talk to some-
one who has a large enough range to be
able to offer honest advice. Someone
who can then deliver on time, someone
whose catalogue is fast becoming the
byword of the software industry.

So don’t expose your-
self, talk to Software Limited.
Choice, advice and delivery all aimed at
meeting your deadline.

Software Limited...

Because there’s more to
choose from, we’re the
only choice to make.

01 - 833 1173/6

Software Limited

No. 2 Alice Owen Technology Centre
251 Goswell Road, London EC1

CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research

Software

Attractive quantity & dealer discounts available

• Circle No. 102

Editorial

EDITORIAL 01-661 3609
Editor

Jack Schofield
Assistant Editors
Ian Stobie
Glyn Moody
An Editor
Steve Miller
Production Editor
John Liebmann
Subeditor
Carol Hammond
Editorial Secretary
Sue Jordan
Consultants
Chris Bidmead
Peter Laurie

ADVERTISING 01-661 3612
Advertisement Manager
Ian Carter 01-661 3021
Assistant Advertisement
Manager

Paul Braybrooke 01-661 8626

Advertisement Executives
Jacqui Ball 01-661 3633
Lynne Brennan 01-661 8100
Mike Crimp 01-661 8425
Advertisement Secretary
Janet Thorpe
Midlands office:

David Harvett 021-356 4838

Northern office:

Geoff Aikin 061-872 8861

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Chris Hipwell

Pub! tshed by Elect ri cal El ect ro n tc
Press, Quadrant House. The Guadranl,
Sulion. Surrey SM25AS. Tel: 01-661
3500. Telex/grams 8920S4 BlSPRS G.

Distributed' by Business Press
International Ltd, Quadrant House,
The Quadrant. Sutton. Surrey SM2
5AS.

Subscriptions: U K. £13 per annum;
Overseas £19 per annum; selling
price in Eire subject to currency
exchange fluctuations and VAT;
airmail rates available on application
to Subscription Manager Business
Press International Ltd. Oakfield
House. Perrymount Road. Haywards
Heath, Sussex RH16 3DH. Tel: 0444
459188,

Printed in Great Britarn for the
proprietors Business Press
International Ltd by Eden Fisher
(Southend) Ltd, Southend-on-Sea.
Typeset by Gentrepoint Typesetters,
London EC1 .

£ Business Press International Ltd
1984

Would-be authors are welcome to
send articles to the Editor but PCcan-
not undertake to return them. Pay-
ment is al £35 per published page.
Submissions should be typed or
computer printed and should include
a tape or disc of any program. Hand-
written material is liable to delay and
error.

Every effort is made to check articles
and listings but PC cannot guarantee
that programs will run and can accept
no responsibility lor any errors.

Who needs
a top 10?

lists or the top 10 records, cars, books and
television programmes exercise a curious
fascination. It is hardly surprising that a number
of micro magazines publish top 1 0s or 20s of
computers or programs.

At best a top 10 can provide three things: first,
entertainment; second, an indication of which
companies and/or products are selling; third,
help in deciding which products might be worth
looking at in more detail.

In the first case, it does not matter much if the
list is accurate or not. Who cares if the 10 most
beautiful words or top 10 tie-wearers really are
or are not the top 10?

In the second case, however, accuracy is
essential* A top 10 sales chart is worth only as
much as the data on which it is based. Even then,
a guide to sales is not necessarily a guide to
success. For example, Texas Instruments has
just dropped out of the home-micro market
when, according to Dataquest, it was number 2
in the world after Commodore in the category of
micros under $1,000. The company’s recent
huge quarterly losses show that even these sales
were unprofitable.

In the third case, the value of even an accurate
list is very much a matter of taste. There is not
necessarily a connection between any of the
items listed. All that Coronation Street and This
is Your Life have in common, essentially, is that
they are popular.

Neither is popularity a guarantee of quality*
The Sun newspaper sells twice as many copies as
The Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and
Financial Times put together. This does not
make it a more comprehensively reliable guide
to world affairs* it is certainly a more accurate
Indicator of popular taste and is also cheaper,
which counts for a lot in the U*K.

Yet in the microcomputer business there is
nothing quite as strong as the bandwagon effect.

The whole industry is crying out for standards,
and quality may take second place to the
widespread use which establishes a de facto
standard.

Few people would claim that CP/M is the
best possible micro operating system, or that in
hardware terms either the Sinclair Spectrum or
IBM PC represent the optimum hardware for
games playing or business use. These products
do not sell only insofar as they are good or bad:
they sell because they sell.

Another factor is that, by and large, most of
the people currently buying micros and software
do not have the slightest idea what they are
doing. It is easy to buy, say, a Commodore 64
without knowing it needs a considerable amount
of programming just to draw a straight line. It is
easy to order an Electron without considering
how joysticks, discs and primers can be plugged
into it* That is not to say that these are rotten
machines, but it is the case that most of the
people who buy them are, in computer terms,
innocents* The problem is that a list of best-
sellers can be used to avoid thinking about what
is being purchased* “Thousands of other people
have bought it so it must be good 1 ’ — if only
that were true*

So top 10 lists are important in computing,
and we only wish there was one we felt we could
rely on* Unfortunately a reliable guide is only
likely to come from the independent analysis of
confidential sales figures. In the current market,
where whopping lies are far from unknown,
which companies would be willing to release
them, and to whom?

The Computer Retailers Association, as
desperate for Information as the rest of us, is
trying to answer this very question. It is possible
the CRA will produce a guide, at least to the
best-selling business software.

It would be a start. We live in hope. Q

I II tfl

I II V I I

“\

11

d i o a c £ | ^ mi o m <n h o |c j :

I M f i I ' i 1 i 1 : K i* n i: ;j . *1

5 Years ago . . .

. u- j s c i 1 a o o ■■ » im * l‘ n i a z d J G 5 is o s t c a o off e d 0 o q o o o n n c n

r ■* 1 * • ■ *4 ’* >: '4 i it si v- i2 e t' U n ri ?■ 11 r. n fs h \> -j w

Commodore has reduced I he price of its Kim 1 to £99.95*
This price puts it well in the range ol students, hobbyists
and schools, but it remains ideal for control applications
and training industry.

Commodore stresses that the Kim 1 is not a kit, but a
complete microcomputer with a fully assembled PC board,
needing only a power supply to operate. Based on the
M0S 6502 microprocessor, it has 2K bytes of ROM, IK byte
of RAM, a keyboard and six-digit LED display. The system
can be expanded significantly, starting with the Kirn 3 8K

RAM memory boards (£193.32 inc VAT). This can be wired
in by the user — all the required connectors are built-in —
or attached more neatly by using a Kim 4 motherboard
(£96.12 inc VAT),

An ordinary audio cassette unit can be attached to
provide auxiliary storage. All interface circuits provided on
the Kim 1 board including a Teletype interface are ready
for connection, if the Teletype has the facility, Kim can
also handle paper-tape input and output.

Practical Computing , Volume 2 Issue 2

? S 1 m !r 1 5 |9 9-1 fl S 9 9 f | *! f. j I ' ? 9 1 8 $i i 9 S 1 9 II i ^ 3 fl * S 5 S B 4 J S 3 ^ 1 !( 1 5 & P fl la 5 9 ! 9 9 M S S 1 i M 9 H :

I } . t v ( I l Ta ■■ .] -4 if r i| r, H Is > : . iitf i. ■■* u tii;> V "■ n 'J ." i ■■ mi ’ »

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

5

_ K c DeP ar tmentf

The CM.* *

Tape* Coraputet
North Hill' ltl J

Birmingham

Dear Sir > . • t ^as

This is the o'" the noisy

you wit _ h _| e P r£ective action

Mr h Ca ^ t ter & Co.»

Brown » '“iKridqe R° adf
118 Smaller iag 4WJ

Edenbridge

Dear Mt Carter- ^ p^TCH

find your c °YL n should

wyr-^on .Mety“e/«tal

p w Brown f Manager

Mt riavs Bank Ltd

Barclays street

175, The H^h
lONDON N22

rpf . 90564435

yOUt ‘

Dear Mr Brovin. iettet „f

T.n teBpont 6 _,t° V° tott <t il be l

R>r £ 46 , your word processor

can get personal.

The trouble with most CP/M* word processors is that
they can't work out who's who.

While they’re fine at sending one letter to large lists
of people, they're virtually useless for one-off
communications.

In fact, getting one name from your name and address
file is such hard work that your secretary probably retypes it
every time it is needed, wasting time, money and an ex-
pensive name and address file that is only used for mailing
shots.

Business Data Capture, however have now developed
a new program which personalizes CP/M* word
processing.

It's called FETCH, And that's exactly what it does.

When you call up a key name or number, it dives into
your name and address file and transfers the name and
address that you need to the document you're processing.

It can be formal or familiar, according to the relation-
ship you have with each individual.

It al so adds the day’s date automatical ly, A nd a reference
if necessary.

There’s no limit to the number of names and addresses
that FETCH can handle, even if they are in Datastar
format

So besides saving a great deal of time, it cuts out all

possibility of error and embarrassment with your clients.

Yet, the cost is only £4 6. including VAT, post and packing.
Justsendthecoupon with yourcheque or creditcard number
to: Business Data Capture Ltd., 262 Regents Park Road,
London N3 3HN,

Or if you would like to order by telephone with your
credit card, ring 01-349 4095.

You'll receive your program disc with a dear instruction
manual within 14 days,

And if you are not
satisfied for any reason, you

are free to return them to us
within 7 days for a full refund.

BDC FETCH’

The program that

names names.

To Business Data Capture Ltd., 262 Regents Park Road, London N 3 3HN
Please send me your FETCH program disc and instruction manuat.

I enclose a cheque for £46 including VAX post and packing, payable to Business
Data Capture.

1 would like to pay by creditcard. My number is _=

PCI |

My computer is: ,
Name

oriv.)

My disc size is: 5 inch/8 inch

(please-ort 11 *}

Address

u

J

*CP/M it the registered trade mark of Digita! Research.

Registered at 262 Regents Park Road, London N 3 3 HN. Registered in England No. 1326023 ,

• Circle No. 257

6

PRACTECAL COMPUTING February 1984

Feedback

War games

IN THE December issue of Practical Computing you reviewed
several games, among them Eastern Front, You praise it as a
good game with amazing graphics,

Es that all you have to say about it? After all, the object of
the game is to plan the death of men most effectively. The
player is encouraged to do better than Hitler while sitting in
the armchair.

Children might believe that this is what war is like. Adults
should know that war is no fun and Hitler is not JR.

Oliver V dickers,
Osnabriick,
West Germany.

m The Editor replies: Does the fact that Eastern Front offers
a fairly accurate historical simulation of the Barbarossa
campaign make it less acceptable than other war games such
as chess, or make it more educational? What do other readers
think?

HP Model 16

MANY THANKS for the copy
of December’s Practical
Computing, and your review of
the HP series 200 Model 16. 1
thought 1 had best let you know
of a few inaccuracies which
have crept in, just to keep the
record straight.

HPT is not a version of APL,
nor indeed does it resemble it.
The nearest one can say is that it
looks rather like a cross between
Basic and Algol 60.

The Model 16, unlike some
other members of the HP Series
200, cannot run Unix. Finally,
the Basic manuals described are
included in the cost of the
system.

All of these are relatively
minor matters and in no way
spoilt my appreciation of your
very good review,

Ron F Weeden,
Hewlett-Packard Ltd,
Wokingham,
Berkshire.

Bad service

l HAVE BEEN trying to use a 48K
Spectrum to help in the day-to-
day running of my dental
practice for the last 12 to 14
months or so. 1 have written my
own software, which I also sell
to my professional colleagues in
a small way. The system is now
proving to be a great help.
However, one thing that has
certainly not helped is the
unhelpful and ill-mannered
attitude of the majority of firms

in the British computer
hardware / peripheral industry,
I no longer expect to receive
replies to eight out of 10 letters
of enquiry that 1 write, even
though l always send an SAE,

When I eventually do find a
firm that will condescend to soil
its hands with the sordid
business of actually selling me
something, 1 no longer expect
the things to function as
advertised, if at all.

One of the latest offenders
has been Kempston Electronics
— a Centronics interface that
had the driving software
recorded on the leader tape of
the cassette, and an interface
unit that locked up the
computer completely. These
were eventually replaced, but
two enquiries that I have made
to the firm since then have had
no reply. One of them was to
ask why 1 cannot use the
complete character set supplied
with my printer, a Star DF-510,
or even the complete character
set of my Spectrum, The printer
is recommended in Kempston’s
advertising as being completely
compatible.

The other firm that I have
had recent contact with is the
Spectrum group. I phoned a
number of the group's local
dealers to enquire about the
Viscount disc drives for the
Spectrum and was greeted with
ignorance, apathy and down-
right rudeness. One salesman
was helpful — I expect he’s been
sacked by now.

1 daresay we shall all soon be
treated to the sight of the Brit-
ish computer retail and
manufacturing trade wringing

its collective hands, and
bemoaning the fact that they are
going out of business, while the
Japanese — or whoever
happens to be the latest
scapegoat — are flourishing.
Will I feel sorry for them? Til
leave you to guess the answer to
that one.

I realise that my experiences
are far from unusual — indeed,
a lot of people will probably feel
that I’ve got off very lightly so
far. However, 1 don’t see why
we should have to put up with
this situation. The money comes
from our pockets, after all, and
if the bad firms are constantly
exposed, then maybe other
customers will go elsewhere,
until only the decent firms are
left. My local Micromanage-
ment dealer was most helpful
recently when 1 was looking for
a new printer — needless to say,
he got my order.

W H Roberts,
Pen coed.
Mid Glamorgan.

IBM PC XT

PERHAPS you would care to note
the following points relating to
your review in die October issue
of Practical Computing,

The use of the word
Multiplan is invalid since it is
more than eight letters long, so
it is thus shortened by DOS to
Multipla,

When creating a path, there
should not be any spaces after
the \ symbol. The current path
can be checked simply by typing
Path, when at command level.
This would have shown up these
points. The Path command is
only for use in batch or
command situations, and is not
a default route to a data file if
not in the current directory.

When searching for a file not
in the current directory, DOS
expects the drive letter as part of
the file identifier; otherwise it
only searches the logged drive.
Furthermore, directory searches
are carried out on each drive
only by the previously set
CHDIR pathways for the
individual drive, and files that
are actually in the volume may
be invisible.

By keeping important files,
such as utilities, in a specific
directory and setting the
appropriate path, it may be
possible to use them from any
current drive or directory
position.

To a newcomer, the DOS 2.0
manual is without doubt an
intellectual challenge second to
none. It makes learning the
Highway Code an exercise to be
enjoyed in comparison.

Marlin Guyer,

London SW6.

What about
Tandy?

IN our family we have several
systems which we use for the
normal home-computing
activities, and we often get
asked for advice on purchasing
computers. Therefore we were
interested in Jack Schofield’s
article “Home Truths” and
recognise the validity of his
general principles.

Many journalists, including
some in PC, mention way-out
ideas such as the Spectrum and
Microdrives for business use. A
basic knowledge of business
costs would show that a cheap
unit and expensive labour are
not cost effective. Any
competent typist will double
I h eir output on a good
keyboard, and the error-count
on a poor machine will prohibit
its use for business.

Where we would disagree
with Jack Schofield is that the
TRS-8G is, by implication,
considered poor. It is a reliable
machine that has suffered
no significant compatibility
problems for years and has a
mass of good software at all
prices. We consider that LDOS
and Newdos 80 are superior to
the DOSs available for the
Apple and certainly the
Commodore 64.

The ROM-based word
processor of the BBC is simple
to use but lacks the power of
Scripsit, let alone Supers cripsit;
and Enhanced VisiCalc for the
TRS-80 seems to have more
commands than the Apple
(continued on next page )

Our Feedback columns offer readers the opportunity
of bringing their computing experience and problems
to the attention of others, as well as to seek our
advice or to make suggestions, which we are always
happy to receive. Make sure you use Feedback — it is
your chance to keep in touch.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1934

Feedback

(continued from previous page)
version- We have never
bothered to add the high-
resolution peripherals as colour
and high resolution gobble up
memory.

When our TRS-8G was
destroyed by fire we had the
opportunity to purchase some
new equipment at the insurance
company's expense. Sharing
Jack Schofield’s view that in a
few years there will be much
better machines, we chose to
buy a Model 1 TRS-80 which
was available from our local
Tandy store, but added a non-
Tandy 64K memory which
brought the total cost to just
over £200. A further £230 added
a single disc drive.

During the period when we
were without a computer, we
were able to walk into any
Tandy store and the man-
agement were pleased to let
us use the demo machine*
Despite the fact that Tandy is
now using the Model 4, all our
Model 1 software can be made
to run under LDOS without
problems* This, combined with
the fact that Tandy actually
makes a profit on computer
sales and is therefore likely to
stay in business, must make
them at least a reasonable buy*
W Trayler,
Hornchurch,
Essex*

Calling by
name

i was very interested to read
John Hooper’s article in
the November Practical
Computing. Calling sub-
routines by name certainly aids
readability of Basic programs
but, as 1 am sure many readers
will have realised, in many
dialects of Basic there are better
ways of achieving it.

If the line number in Goto
can be an expression, as on the

Atari, Spectrum or Oric, then
Hooper's switching routine can
be eliminated completely.
Instead the subroutine names
are simply the names of
variables, initialised to the
appropriate line numbers* For
instance, in his example he
enters subroutine Answer via
5040 SUBS = "ANSWER":
GOSUB 100

in the main program, and
120 IF SUBS = "ANSWER"
THEN 1200

in his switching routine* We can

streamline these by

5040 GOSUB ANSWER

plus an earlier initialisation

statement

ANSWER = 1200

The result is clearer to read and

more efficient.

If this is not permitted, many
dialects — Commodore is one
— allow the switching to be
improved by means of On
Goto, which is much more
efficient than a string of If
statements. The switching
routine is now a single
statement:

100 ON SUB GOTO 100,

1200 . . .

the j u mp s to the s wit ch i ng
routine look like
5040 SUB = ANSWER: GOSUB
100

and we still need an earlier
initialisation like
ANSWER = 2

Admittedly, in neither of
these methods can we pass
arguments by concatenating on
to the subroutine name, but
surely it is anyway clearer and
more efficient to use a separate
argument variable? Referring
again to John Hooper’s
example, the line:

1260 SUBS = "DELAY01" :
GOSUB 100

with the associated decoding
exercises

130 IF LEFTS (SUBS.5) =
“DELAY" THEN 1300
1310 DELS = RIGHTS ($UB$,2):

DEL = VAL (DEL$)
would be replaced by
1260 ARG = 1: GOSUB DELAY
in the first method; or, in the

second method, by
1260 SUB = DELAY: ARG = 1:
GOSUB 100

and no decoding is required.
Furthermore, explicit argument
passing is much better when the
argument is not a constant, as
is nearly always the case.
Compare:

1260 SUBS s "DELAY" +
STRS(X + Y): GOSUB 100
1310 DELS = RIGHTS(SUBS*
LEN(SUBS) - 5):

DEL = VAL(DELS)
with

1260 ARG = X 4- Y: GOSUB
DELAY
or

1260 SUB = DELAY: ARG =

X + Y: GOSUB 100

Tony O’Hagan,
Department of Statistics,
University of Warwick*

Commodore
64 bugs?

I HAVE JUST COMPLETED a
writing Study Guide to the
Commodore 64 for Pitman
Books and have discovered
various bugs in the Commodore
64 and Vic- 20 Basic ROM.

Commodore 64 owners
should try
10 T = 1

20T^T/2 PRINT T: GOTO 20
to produce a long sequence of
numbers , b eco m ing sma 1 ler *
After a time the numbers go to
zero:

5.877471 76E- 39
2.93873588E - 39
0

which is what should occur.
Altering the value of T in line 1 0
to -- 1 while keeping line 20
exactly the same, produces a
sequence which ends
-1.17549485E-38
- 5,877471 76E - 39
2. 93873588 E - 39
0

which is in no way correct.
There should not be a change
from a minus to a plus.

Now try

T “4.25352959E + 37 : PRINT
*2

to which the response is
?OVERFLOW ERROR
Entering Print T + T produces
the value 8. 507059 17E + 37.

For further interesting results
try

V==L7014U83E + 3B: PRI NT V
V = (V/2) * 2 : PR! NT V
to gauge the amusing
possibilities open to the
adventurous user*

Boris Allan,
Stockport,
Cheshire*

Not Julian,
but

Gregorian

i am surprised and alarmed to
learn from your November 1983
issue, pages 161 and 178, that
the present calendar is Julian.
During my lifetime so far all
calendars and diaries for use in
this country have used the
Gregorian, not the old-style
calendar which was abolished in
Britain and Sweden in Sep-
tember 1752,

Perhaps this explains why l
am always about a fortnight
behind in my work, but more
likely someone has confused the
Julian calendar with the Julian
day used by astronomers* This
day runs from noon to noon,
not midnight to midnight, and
starts on noon Monday -4712,
ending noon, Sunday December
31, 3268, The cycle of 7,980
years then repeats, various
lunar and solar cycles starting
off again in step* Noon on
January 1, 1984 is the start of
Julian day 2,445,701.

However confused the
nomenclature, Mr Wade’s
program rises above it* I have
not tried it out, having neither
an Atari nor the time, but line
70 is essentially Gregorian.

R A Fairlhorite,
Earn borough,
Hampshire* £

8

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

9Vz” Dot-Matrix

• With Colour Computer and
Parallel Interfaces

DMP-120. This versatile 9V2” dot-matrix printer has high speed data
processing and graph ics modes , that makes light work of many many tasks. It
prints ten and 1 6.7 characters per inch, or elongated five and 8.3 characters
per inch at up to 125 characters per second. A very compact printer it uses
fanfold, single sheet or roll paper and has built in parallel and colour computer
compatible serial interfaces. 26-1255

Colour Graphics

£ 149

* Uses Easily Replaceable Ink
Cartridges

CGP-1 15. Ultra-compact colour graphics printer helps you create beautiful
graphics in red, green, blue and black, and it prints alphanumerics. Built-in
commands make it easy! Text mode prints 40 or 80 characters per line at 12
characters per second. Uses easily replaceable ink cartridges. A selection of
colour pens is available. Set measures 2 1 $/i6 x 8V4 x 8V2". 26-1192

Low Cost Dot-Matrix

£7995

• Print Graphics
and Alphanumerics

• Whisper Quiet!

TP- 10 Thermal Printer. Perfect for use with the MC-10 Colour
Microcomputer, and our other colour computers. You can print both screen
graphics and alpbanumerics. Textmode prints 32 characters per line at 30
characters per second on 4 Vs u wide thermal paper. Special repeat function to
make graphics programming easier. Colour computer-compatible serial
interface only (600 baud). 26-1261

Computer Cassette Recorder

£ 95 • Designed For The TRS-80

• Mains Or Battery Operated

Specially designed for use with TRS-80 microcomputers, the CTR-81
computer cassette recorder is ideal for loading and recording programs and
data on cassette tapes. It can easily be connected to Models I, III, 4 and the
new TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer. Smart white finish. Mains
operation or requires four “C" batteries (not included). 26-1208

/A

...Or Choose The Daisy Wheel Printer lb Meet Your Needs

“Letter
Perfect”

£ 1199

With Free
Bi-Directional
Tractor Feed
(26-1459)

DWP-410. Ideal for SCRIPS IT 1 M word processing! Select ten or 12
characters per inch, or proportional pitch. Forward and reverse paper
feed and V 2 line feed, underline and programmable backspace.
Includes Vi 20 ” space and V^a" line feed. Automatic paper set makes
paper Insertion easy. Uses interchangeable print wheels for type
selection. EPM mode for special wheels. 26-1250

DWP'21 0, A low-cost printer for that “professional look" ! Select ten or
1 2 characters per inch, or proportional pitch. Prints over 200 words per
minute (18 characters per second) at ten characters per inch. Easily
handles an original plus two copies, features Vsoo" space and 1 / 4 a"
line feed, ribbon end, cover open and paper empty sensing. With
carbon ribbon and Courier 10 print wheel. 26-1257

• With
Automatic
Wheel
Positioning

This compute

to be desig

precisely the right computer for your business.

hibu.

But unless your name is Clive Sinclair you’ll
probably need help from someone with a little more
experience.

Like LSI computers. (That’s us.)

Computer design starts here,
here or here.

I

Around fifteen hundred pounds
will buy you an Octopus system
at its simplest.

The central computer
with a fully programmable
keyboard and one disc
drive, With the optional
carrying case, you can take
it home, to business meetings,
to your hotel; anywhere a TV screen is available.

'A couple of thousand pounds will buy a fully-
fledged business computer system, including two
disc drives and a high resolution monitor And, quite
free, over a thousand pounds worth of software: a
package called Axis!

It’s capable of controlling stock, invoicing and
keeping your sales, purchase and nominal ledger
and would almost certainly be the first software
package you’d have to buy

We’ve had seven years' experience of dev-
eloping micros and software exclusively for business.
(You won't find us in primary schools or amusement
arcades.)

The result of which is the most flexible system
ever offered - Octopus.

For an appreciably greater investment the
ultimate Octopus starter kit offers the extra speed
and capacity of aWinchester disc drive, integrated
with the central computer

Keep your options open.

This is where your designing comes in. (And the
back of the box is where it goes in.)

;r is designed

led by you.

We've left room for four option boards and
are offering, already a choice of seven.

For example, a telecommunications board
facilitates all kinds of links through the standard
Telecom network.

A graphics board
conjures up all kinds of
shapes and sizes.

Others offer
colour display expanded
RAM, links for printers and
other peripherals and, ultimately
the ability to connect up an
entire Octopus network.

And because you’ll be able to get up-dated
option boards, the Octopus system means you can
keep your options open for the foreseeable future.

Better by a Zilog.

With all this inbuilt flexibility we had to be doubly
sure about the abilities of the central processor

So we included two of them.

Namely the Intel 8088-2 and the Zilog Z80B.

In plain English (well, plainish), this means
Octopus can operate both the tried and tested 8-bit
programs and the new; faster 1 6-bit ones; even, if

necessary switching between the two.

It can also speak five languages or more and
work on any of five operating systems.

Which adds up to the fact that Octopus will
accept virtually all of the business
micro software that’s currently
on the market.

Hard-nosed software.

Not that we let that stop us from
designing our own. And designing it
: *7 better with the kind of thoughtful detail
that makes for real convenience.

For instance, we provide a mat to lay
over the keyboard when its function keys are
re-programmed. So you won’t have to re-train staff
to use a keyboard that says one thing and means
another Or re-train them whenever you up-date or
expand the program.

An advantage, we might add, which you could
only enjoy with a computer system that doesn't
become obsolete or outgrown.

No matter what size of business you’ve got
designs on.

Please send me details of the Octopus computer systemTl
Name

I

Position
Company
Address

Telephone.

i

The growing business computer

L To LSI Computers, Copse Hi.. Si Johns. Wukirw, Surrey GU21 1FX Tel: 04862 23411.

P rvM |

• Circle No. 105

Never before has so much been available
from so little, to so many.

Never before in the history of modem
computers has there been available a totally
portable machine with the ability to cope with
so many demands, to so many people, in so
many different business areas.

Epson, with over 20 years experience in
designing and manufacturing high quality
printers, have produced the HX-20, a
precision machine with its own rechargeable
power supply that can be used for just about
any task within todays discerning business:
from data capture to word processing, from
card indexing to sales order entry.
Communicating with other machines is no
problem and the HX-20 is easily coupled to
one of our fine printers. You can even link in
another main computer system by using an
acoustic coupler

Don't be fooled by its size, the HX-20 has
all the software back-up you'd expect from a
much larger machine and incorporates many
"bigger computer" features - 16k RAM
expandable to 32k with serial interfaces, a
full size typewriter keyboard, it's own built in

LCD screen and a dot matrix microprinter. A micro-
cassette facility is available as an optional extra.

A complete computer that will either
stand on its own or could be the obvious
extension to your existing system.

More and more people are finding out
just how big the small compact HX-20 is.

Why don't you find out for yourself - you
owe it to your business.

EPSON

Extraordinary product.
Exceptional quality.

Epson (UK) Limited, Freepost,
Wembley, Middlesex HA9 6BR.
Sales Enquiries: Freefone EPSON.
General Enquiries: 01-902 8892.
Telex: 8814169.

r.

□ I would like a demonstration of the HX-20
Portable Computer.

□ Please send me details of my local stockist.

Name ■

Position^

Company.

Address

x — - - Tel: _ ,

( PC2/ 20 |

* Circle No. 106

News: hardware

Intertec

Headstart

INTERTECS 16-bit Headstart,
successor to the Superbrain, is
now distributed by Icarus in the
UX Combining eight- and
16-bit processors, the machine
offers one 0.5Mbyte micro-
floppy as standard, together
with 512K RAM. Both can be
upgraded to l Mbyte. A key
feature is the RAM-disc option
whereby the RAM may be
partitioned into a virtual-disc
area.

The system has been built
with networking in mind. Four
stations and a 1 0Mbyte file

server will cost about £10,000.
The basic 512K system,
complete with 12in. screen and
detachable keyboard, costs
£2,895 plus VAT.

Further details from Icarus
Computer Systems Ltd, Deane
House, 27 Greenwood Place,
London NWS INN. Telephone:
01485 5574.

Koala

graphics

A GRAPHICS PAD for the
Commodore 64 has been
produced by Audiogenic. The
Koala Painter allows colour
graphics to be drawn, stored
and manipulated using menus
of commands. As well as
drawing with a stylus on the 4 in.
by 4im pressure-sensitive pad,
standard routines for lines,
circles, etc. can be called, and
colours added successively,
individual portions of the

screen can be blown up and
worked on in detail.

The system is disc based and
costs £89.95 including VAT.
The curious name apparently
stems from the original
American designers. Further
details from Audiogenic Ltd,
PO Box 88, Reading, Berkshire
RGl 2SN, Telephone: (0734)
595647.

Bromley's

Superstar

superstar 16 is a 16-bit multi-
user system from Bromley
Computers. It has an interesting
dual-processor architecture
surrounding a 16-bit master
processor. Multi-user units can
be added by buying additional
eight- or 16-bit processors
which plug inside the main
Superstar unit. Terminals are
then connected and may be run
as independent systems. This
contrasts with the normal
system of distributed processing
power in the terminals.

The new machine runs
CP/M, MS-DOS and Xenix.
Bromley Computers has

cations software.

The entry system comes with
an eight-bit slave, 10Mbyte
Winchester, one 400K floppy,
screen and keyboard, and costs
£2,450. Up to 16 users can be
accommodated sharing a
Winchester storage capacity of
160Mbyte. Further information
from Bromley Computer
Consultancy Ltd, 417421
Bromley Road, Bromley, Kent.
Telephone: 01-697 8933.

Micro

modem

a new low-cost ultra-miniature
modem measuring just 4.5cm.

by 2.2cm. By 10.6cm. has
been produced by Tech-Nel.
Designed for short-range data
transmission up to 25km., the
unit requires no power supply or
batteries.

The modem plugs directly
into the standard RS-232C port
and is powered from signals
emitted by the host machine.
Transmission rates of up to
19,200 baud are possible. A pair
of SRM-6 units costs £140.
Contact Tech-Nel Data
Products Ltd. Telephone:
(0295) 65781 .

Removable

Winchesters

country computers has ex-
tended its range of computers
with the C-3010, featuring one
fixed Winchester and one
removable cartridge version.
This particularly lends itself to
security-sensitive data and
situations. The Z-80A system

can be expected to run with
192K RAM using bank swit-
ching. A multi-user version is
also promised later in the year.

The 5 + 5Mbyte system costs
£4,500 plus VAT; a 10 +
10Mbyte version is planned.

More details from Country
Computers Ltd, Pipers Road,
Park Farm Industrial Estate,
Redditch, Worcestershire B98
0HU. Telephone: (0527) 29826.

Xmas cheer

at a special ceremony held
to celebrate the millionth
Spectrum rolling off the
production line on December 9,
Sir Clive Sinclair was given his
Christmas present a little early.
Yes, it was a Spectrum,

Oric also obtained a useful
Christmas bonus in the form of
£4 million raised through its
new parent company called
Edenspring. The money will
fund new developments and
a substantial advertising
campaign.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

15

A multi-user CP/M compatible
system with high performance
and reliability.

The Sirton MIDAS-MPS

gj rtnn

computer systems

Sirton Computer' Systems’ new Distributed Processing System;
MIDAS-MPS, has been specially designed to be a flexible,

multi-user system. Each user terminal added to the system
has its own local processor, expanding the computing
capacity of the system. The MIDAS-MPS is
CP/M compatible,

has sophisticated password protection,
it is easily installed and, as with all
our systems, reliable.

If you’d like to learn more about MIDAS-MPS why not write or 'phone
for our leaflet which includes full specification. We’d be pleased to
you with your enquiry.

Features:

★ CP/M Compatible ★ High Speed Communication

★ Multiple Directories with ★ Individual Processors at each

Hierarchical Access Terminal

★ Easily Expandable ★ Easily Installed

★ High Throughput ★ Reliable

★ User Friendly

Sirton Computer Systems

Unit 14, 29 Willow Lane. Mitcham, Surrey. CR4 4NA. Telephone: 01-640 6931/2/3

• Circle No. 108

If your microcomputer job involves managing information, you'll need a Compsoft Data Management
System. It's your guarantee that computerisation will be a success,

Compsoft are world leaders when it conies to easy to use database programs. There is no tiling quite so
genuinely user friendly, and nothing quite as powerful. And Compsoft were the winners of the 1983 RITA
(Recognition of Information Technology Achievement) Awards "Software Product of the Year’.

We can give your ^Computer the power to breeze through the management of any record keeping
situation, — effortlessly, efficiently, and more accurately than you ever dreamed possible. From sales
ledger to stock control, purchaser ledger to personnel, clubs to customers, and in a thousand other ways,
we can lend a helping hand.

You don’t have to be a computer expert to use Compsoffs DMS or Delta, Both programs offer fast,
accurate and elegant database power for both first time computer users and professional syst^R^jgigners,

You owe it to yourself to know more. Either return the coupon to us, or simply telephone tlle^oHfl^i
well send you a complete guide to our versatile database programs - today,

* Delta ts available for almost any microcomputer with the MSDGS, PC DOS, CP/M, or MP/M operating systems, including

IBM, DEC Rainbow, SIRIUS, XEROX, ICL, EPSON and many others.

DMS is also available for Commodore computers.

i i

i

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

m Circle No. 109

17

SMALL

- k)ur Finger

Gomplete New Ran

This is Sanyo’s new range of normal to high resolu-
tion graphic display monitors. Designed for the customer
who specifically demands a high quality product at
a realistic price.

A complete range in every sense (size,
colour capability and input versatility) that
has evolved directly from the experience
and advanced technology of one of the

SHIFT

GRAPH

TIPS THE KEY!) A

worlds leading colour television and computer product manufacturers.
A range thats available now at your fingertips.

If you re investing in business micros for the first time, or just simply
extending your present system, phone STC on 0279 26777 or Micro
Peripheral on 0256 3232.

Alternatively clip the coupon and well tell you all about Sanyo,
the key to a complete new range of data monitors.

SOFTWARE AND TECHNOLOGY 4

A disk for every micro. While 8-bit micro-computers may boast a ‘standard’ operating system, one of
its gravest shortcomings has been the lack of a common disk format. It has meant that data created
with the same software package but on different computers couid not be moved from one machine
to another running the same operating system. With 16-bit micros running MS-DOS, this situation
has been remedied. MS-DOS uses one data format common across all machines. This means that
files from Multiplan or documents from Microsoft Word are completely transferable between any
MS-DOS micros.

Enhancing high-level languages. Today’s computer hardware offers a staggering array of new
facilities, particularly where graphics and sound are concerned. As hardware develops, software
writers have a choice between buying a special package just to achieve the most rudimentary on-
screen graphics or music, or using a high-level language with built-in graphics and music
commands. In fact, it would be foolish to expect proven languages like BASIC not to evolve as
hardware becomes more sophisticated. With the latest version of its GW BASIC Interpreter,
Microsoft has enhanced BASIC one step further for this new hardware. The language has a large
number of graphics and sound extensions supporting new input devices such as joysticks and light
pens, with graphics commands that can rotate defined objects at will on the screen, and the ability
to open windows and see objects shrink or expand automatically as window sixes alter, The
combination of advanced hardware and software like GW BASIC means that programs written in
Interpretive BASIC can now run at speeds approaching those of programs written in lower-level
languages. Features of this type would have been unheard of two years ago - but just think what
sort of facilities may be available in tomorrow’s high-level languages.

Europe s leading F inancial Planning package. Even though the European Economic Community
sometimes finds it hard to agree just who pays how much to whom and for what, it has at least
reached a film decision on one aspect of financial planning. When it comes to spreadsheets there
appears to be great accord between France, Germany and the UK. Microsoft’s Multiplan,
translated to work in the natural languages of those countries has come out as the number one
European spreadsheet package. According to a recent European survey in one of the monthly
computer journals, Multiplan has emerged as the favourite spreadsheet. Microsoft has brought the
same linguistic resources to bear on Word, its text processing package, and hopes that in 1984 Word
will achieve the same international success as Multiplan.

How does a standard evolve? The microcomputer industry has traditionally established its
standards by two routes. The S-1Q0 bus, MS-DOS and 8- bit CP/M evolved while some
™™* act “ rers ^ jY e consciously attempted to set standards as with the Ethernet network and the
3. . Winchester disk format, hoping that others will follow in their footsteps. There has, however
recently been a new approach. At the end of 1983, an unprecedented commitment was made by 23
oi the industry s leading microcomputer manufacturers to a new product from Microsoft. The
product was Microsoft Windows - an enhancement to the MS-DOS operating system* Never
bcfoie in microcomputing history has such a forceful public committment been made to one
product Companies like DEC, Wang, Tandy, Appie/Rana, Altos, NCR, Compaq, TeleVideo and
Eagle wdj all be offering the product on their MS-DOS based micros in 1984. More recently, the
UK s leading 16-bit microcomputer manufacturer, ACT announced that it too, would be
supporting Windows on the hugely successful Apricot. By mid-1984 we will be reaping the
benefits that such standardisation offers -portable software running in the same manner on
different machines; integrated software with different applications running together on the same
machines; and software that's a whole lot easier to use.

MICROSOFT

Microsoft Ltd, Piper House,
Hatch Lane, Windsor, Berkshire.

20

• Circle No. Ill

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

News: software

Digital Research's
new language strategy

DR FORTRAN 77 is the first of five
planned new language com-
pilers from Digital Research.
Pascal, C, PL/1 and CBasic
compilers will follow shortly.
All these languages will use a
new compiler writing technique
which promises to increase the
portability of application
programs between systems, and
to make new language compilers
available more quickly across
the range of microcomputers.

A major problem facing a
system-software company like
Digital Research is the number
of different operating systems
and processors used on micro-
computers. Suppose seven
language compilers were to be
produced to run under, say,
four different operating systems

on micros built around the 8086,
8088 and 68000 chips. This
means producing, ifnot quite 84
separate products, still a large
number of completely different
pieces of code.

Digital Research’s new
approach is to split each
compiler into two, with a front-
end syntax processor and a
back-end code generator. This
way the front-end syntax
processor only has to be written
once for each language. The
Digital Research front-end
processors all generate a com-
mon intermediate language.
This CIL code is then fed into
the back-end code gener-
ator for each operating-
system /processor combi nation
to produce the final optimised

mac h i n e-code p rogram .

Although this approach is not
new — it has been used with
mini and mainframe languages
for years and is reminiscent of
the Pascal p-code system —
Digital Research's across-the-
board use of the technique
represents a further growth of
professionalism in the micro-
computer software market. The
advantage to language users
claimed by Digital Research is
that source code written in a
given language on one system
will work across the complete
range of micros.

Designed for scientific and
engineering programmers, DR
Fortran 77 supports 32-bit real
numbers and runs programs
up to the I Mbyte addressing

capacity of the 8086 and 8088
processor family. On smaller
systems large programs can be
overlayed in 128K chunks.
Digital Research says the new
compiler is a full implemen-
tation of the ANSI -77 Fortran
standard.

Concurrent CP/M and
CP/M-86 versions should be
available immediately, and MS-
DOS and IBM PC versions are
promised for March, priced at
£385. Further versions will
probably follow, with Unix high
on the list.

These products will be
available through retail chan-
nels, but if you require further
information Digital Research's
telephone number is Newbury
(0635) 35304.

Commodore/

Atari

program

generator

HOME FILE WRITER IS a program
generator for disc-based Atari
and Commodore 64 systems. It
will be most useful for database
applications. The user types a
layout on to the screen and
Home Filewriter then generates
the necessary code. A typical'
application would be club
membership records.

Home Filewriter costs £39.95.
Details from Dynatech
Microsoftware, Rue du
Commerce, Bouet, St Peter
Port, Guernsey, Channel
Islands. Tel: (0481) 20255.

Applesoft

compiler

the EINSTEIN compiler is for
Apple He and Apple II Plus
disc-based systems, it is an
optimising compiler for trans-
lating Applesoft Basic programs
into Apple machine code. The
£89 utility program supports the
full range of Applesoft and

DOS 3.3 commands, including
high- and low-resolution
graphics and shape tables.
Details from Pete and Pam
Computers, New Hall Hey
Road, Rossendale, Lancashire
BB4 6JG. Telephone: (0706)
212321.

Version 3 of
The Last One

version -L 0 of The Last One
— which must surely be a
contradiction in terms — is now
out. The Last One is a program
generator, and one of the most
heavily publicised programs of
all time. Version 3,0 has several
enhancements, including the
ability to have final programs in
any national language, It costs
£330 for the IBM PC, Apricot,
Sirius, DEC Rainbow, Orion
and most CP/M machines, and
£199 for ihe Apple II Plus and
lie.

Version 2,0 of The Last One
is still available for the
Commodore 64, with disc drive,
for £85. Contact D J A1
Systems, Station Road,
Ilminster, Somerset TAI9 9BQ,
Telephone: (04605) 4117.

(More news on page 23)

Total Health for the
Commodore 64 helps you
plan a balanced diet and
exercise program. Tape and
disc versions cost £17,95 and
£19.95 res pect i v ely f rom
Marketing Micro Software
Ltd, Telephone: Ipswich
(0473) 462721 .

Epson has issued a free
brochure explaining how to
get the best out of its printers
when connected to the BBC
Micro, Telephone: Freephone
Epson.

In brief

The Incredible Jack is an
integrated software package
for the Apple He. Word
processing, calc, filing and
mailing are all integrated and
run off one disc. The price is
£129.50 from Pete and Pam
Conrmuters.

Base Invaders is a game with
a more modern scenario. You
have to dodge policemen and
cut down the fence at
Green ham Common to get to
the cruise-missile bunkers.
Running on the Sinclair
Spectrum or BBC Micro it
costs £8 from Magination.
Telephone: Newcastle (0632)
653224.

The Graphics Solution is a

graphics editor and
animation system for the 64K
Apple 11 Plus or lie with disc
drive. It lets you prepare
mixed text and high-
resolution charts, three-
dimensional graphs and
animated sequences. It costs
£99 from Pete and Pam
Computers.

Battle 1917 is a World War I
strategic simulation game for
several players, running on
the Spectrum. The price is £6
from Cases Computer
Simulations. Telephone:
01-858 0763 .

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

21

HIGH QUALITY GREEN SCREEN
VIDEO MONITORS

CHECK THESE FEATURES:-

• ANTIGLARE SCREEN

• P31 GREEN FOR MINIMUM FATIGUE

• VIDEO RESPONSE 10Hz - 22MHz ±3db

• SUPERB RESOLUTION -UP TO 132

CHARS/LINE

• EXCELLENT GEOMETRY/LINEARITY

• HIGH STABILITY

• 230 VOLT 50Hz MAINS OPERATION

• COMPOSITE VIDEO 0.5/2.0V INPUT

• FLICKER FREE DISPLAY

Designed for use with Professional and
Personal Microcomputers where a high
resolution display is required. Ideal for
applications requiring 80 column mode
or higher, high resolution graphics, etc.

A 12" MODEL HM123

ADD £5
Carriage/Postage

A 9" MODEL HM911

A 9" MODEL HM91Q

THE

LOWEST PRICE ANYWHERE

ADD £9 Carriage/I nsurance

FOR A PC WITH THESE
FEATURES .... LOOK AT
THE SPEC. OF THE AMAZING
UNITRON 2200

Dual processors — 6502 and Z80
• 64 K of RAM

0 24K ROM with softswitch control
0 Selectable 80 or 40 column text displa
^ Detachable keyboard
^ Apple® I (compatible
0 CP/M^compatible

0 High and low resolution graphics
capabilities

0 Two disk I/O for your disk drives
0 Game paddles/ cassette/video interfaces

Prices exclusive of VA T

Same day despatch. Access welcome.

GHILXERN ELECTRONICS

HIGH STREET, CHALFONT ST. GI LES, BUCKS. HP84QH
TELEPHONE: 02407 71234 TELEX: 26228*

• Circle No. 112

News: software

Compilers for

Commodore

Basic

OXFORD COMPUTING SYSTEMS
h els launched a range of disc-
based Basic compilers covering
the whole Commodore range.
Most interesting is Port speed,
costing £125, a cross-compiler
generating Commodore 64
machine-code programs from
8000-series Pet Basic source
code,

Petspeed, also costing £125, is
a conventional compiler for
4000- and 8000-series Pet Basic.
It optimises the output machine
code, ensuring that the resulting
programs are not prohibitively
long, a problem with non-
optimising compilers, Oxford
Computing Systems also has a
£75 Integer Basic Compiler for
3000- , 4000- and 8000-series
Pets,

Contact Oxford Computer
Systems, Hensington Road,
Woodstock, Oxford OX7 UR,
Telephone: Woodstock (0993)
812700,

HX-20
nominal
ledger and
cash register

PHIPPS ASSOCIATES has pro-
duced a nominal-ledger package
for the battery-powered
portable Epson HX-20. It can
analyse accounting data over
100 headings. The audit trail is
produced on the Epson's built-
in printer. Phipps says the
program, which costs £26, is
suitable for the travelling

auditor or anyone faced with
a complicated multi-column
epxense sheet.

Phipps Associates also does a
program called Cash Register,
which turns the HX-20 into a
point-of-sale terminal. Used in
conjunction with the Epson bar-
code reader package it can be

used to read E A N/U PC-coded
labels directly from products.
Another option is a cash drawer
which links to the HX-20
through its remote On/Off
socket. Phipps Associates says
the program is also likely to
appeal to van salesmen.

Further details from Phipps
Associates, 172 Kingston Road,
Ewell, Surrey KT19 OSD,
Telephone: 01-393 0283,

K-tel double-
siders

K-TEL, of TV-advertised record
fame, is launching a series of
TV -advertised Spectrum and
Vic-20 games. Under the slogan
“twice the fun with two on one M

the programs will come two at a
time on a double- A -side cassette
Tor a price of £6.95,

The initial five cassettes
include It's only Rock ’n 7 Roll
plus Tomb of Dracula, and
Battle of the Toothpaste Tubes
plus Castle Colditz, both lor the
Spectrum, with Supavaders/
Bomber Run for the Vic.
Commodore 64 programs will
follow in a later batch.

The programs should be
readily available at the usual
retail outlets. Otherwise contact
K-tel on 01-992 8055,

Hands-On

training

packs

HANDS-ON MULTI PLAN and
Hands-On dBase II will be the
latest additions to the Hands-On
range of self-teaching micro-
computer-training products.
Although prices have not yet
been announced, the packages

should be available in early
1984.

Hands-On CP/M Plus,
Hands-On MS-DOS 2 and
Hands-On CP/M 2.2 are
already obtainable, price £80,
for the majority of computers
running these operating
systems. Hands-On Basic,
based on Microsoft MBasic,
and Hands-On Cis Cobol, cost
£150,

The Hands-On range all use a
split-screen technique. The top
half mimics the product in
question while the tutorial guide
runs in parallel underneath.

Details from Vector Inter-
national (U.K,), 64 A Lower
Tedding ton Road, Kingston-
upon-Thames, Surrey KT1
4ER, Telephone: 01-943 1257,

Home word
processor

HOMEWORD is Sierra On-Linefs
new word processor designed
especially for the home user.
The program has fashionable
features like graphic icons and
can be used with an optional
joystick to achieve a mouse-like
effect cheaply.

Homeward is intended to be
easy, and it comes with an audio
cassette explaining how to use
the program. Available now for
the Apple 11 Plus and lie, price
£33.95, versions of Home word
are also promised for the Atari

and Commodore 64, Contact
Pete and Pam Computers,
Telephone: Rossendale (0706}
212321.

Expert

systems from
Acorn

Brian AL-Diss on Science
Fiction, Sheridan Morley on
Theatre, Steve Race on Music,
John Julius Norwich on
History, Anthony Holden on
Royalty and Julian Symonds on
Crime: each of Acornsoft's
Grandmaster Quiz series each
presents 300 questions compiled
by one of these experts on their
specialist subject area.

The quizzes can be played
competitively between two
people or alone against the
machine. The six programs cost
£12.65 each, including VAT,
and run on the BBC Model B —
or the Acorn Electron, if you
can get hold of one.

Details from Acornsoft, 4A
Market Hill, Cambridge CB2
3NJ. Telephone: (0223) 31640.

Beebfont is a character ROM for the BBC Microcomputer which
qives you five pre-defined 16-byT6 dot founts and facilities to
define your own. Founts can be displayed on the screen or printed
on an Epson printer, according to the supplier, Watford
Electronics, Beebfont costs £45 for the ROM, manual and
supporting disc or tape software. Details from Watford Electronics,
33/35 Cardiff Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD1 8ED. Telephone:
(0923) 40588.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

23

Special Advertisement Feature

Shredders for computer printout

The increasing use of word processors, printers and com-
puter installations means that Business Aids’ electronic
Scimitar Data Shredders are in greater demand than ever.
The Compact Data 1001 is ideal for the smaller computer
user, models 2001 and 2002 accept 25 sheets or eight
streams of continuous stationery, while the high-security
2002XC converts paper into illegible 2 x 15mm chips.
Data 4001 is a wide-throated console model; the heavy
duty Data 5000 and 6000 have a 30-sheet capacity and
process up to 20 streams of printout simultaneously.
Contact me now.

426 on enquiry card

Telex terminal of tomorrow

Streamline your telex operation with the Thend Tfelex
Terminal, a system marketed by British Telecom as the
‘Puma’. Similar in appearance to an electronic typewriter,
the Puma supercedes paper tape telex terminals by
incorporating a 16,000-character memory' and the ability
to communicate with WP/Micro computer systems.
Messages are edited and dialled from the keyboard and
the system can transmit unattended — anywhere in the
world, if necessary re-dialling until a busy line is free Let
me put you in touch with the telex trend-setters.

427 on enquiry card

Clear crisp copies

If you require needle sharp, edge to edge
copies, clear black and white from
virtually any colour, the Roneo 230
Copier from Roneo Alcatel will suit you.
It produces 30 copies per minute, has a
touch sensitive keyboard to minimise
misfeeds and a key control to monitor
usage The 230 will copy standard
documents, books, flimsy originals, even
three dimensional objects, onto standard
bond, address labels, etc in sizes A3, A4,
B4 and B5. An automatic sorter and
feeder are also available Contact me for
further details.

428 on enquiry card

A fast and efficient
mailing system

If your computer can produce invoices
in a matter of minutes it seems crazy to
then spend hours mailing them by
hand. The Neopost System Five-2 from
Roneo Alcatel is designed to fold,
insert, seal and frank in a fraction of the
time it takes manually. The ‘system’ can
be controlled by a single operator
saving many costly man-hours and its
modular construction gives it the
flexibility to match your needs exactly.
If you’re interested in saving time and
money circle this number today for
more details. 429 on enquiry card

Perfect presentation

Earn top marks for presentation with the
Easi-bind system. Easi-bind is the low-
cost, desktop binding machine that will
give your sales literature, quotations,
proposals and manuals that extra pro-
fessional touch. Easi-bind is neat,
simple and effective. Perfect binding
means no punched holes, or messy glue
pots. Choose from a wide range of
stock covers or Midland Binding
Machines will quote for the design and
printing of top quality customised
covers which arc available in any size
from A6 to full computer printout. I
have full details.

430 on enquiry card

Twinlock VDU furniture
range — new additions

Twinlock have extended their successful
VDU furniture range with the addition of
two VDU workcentrcs. One is designed to
accommodate separate VDU screens and
keyboards with a height adjustable
platform that tilts back and forth to avoid
eye-strain or glare. The other is fixed and
designed for an adjustable VDU, or an
integrated VDU and keyboard system.
Both have an extra large work surface
which will accommodate a table-top
printer. Optional accessories, such as a
printout catcher and a 5-tray housing arc
also available Just circle this numben

431 on enquiry card

PAGE PLUS
Computers

COMPILED BY-

65 Shawley Way Epsom Downs
Surrey KT18 5PD 07373 52031

The Xerox 16/8 PC
the two-in-one micro

The Rank Xerox 16/8, by offering to
you both 8 Bit AND through 16 Bit
processing, is the two-in-one micro to
meet your business needs now' — and in
the future. It can utilise all your existing
8 Bit data and programs and all the
much faster processing 16 Bit software
now becoming more widely available.
It comes with three operating systems
— CP/M® , MS-DOS™ and CP/M86.
It is the micro designed to combat
obsolescence so find out more by
contacting me now.

432 on enquiry card

A cut above the rest . . .

Continuous stationery can create as may problems as
it solves, with paper-cutting bottlenecks holding up
output. But according to Bell & Howell their Fimafold
1000 provides a low-cost solution for small or medium
computer installations. The accent is on ease of use
and maximum versatility, with electronic control
systems keeping the operator fully informed and in
complete control. Interested? Circle the number and
I’ll be happy to send you full details.

433 on enquiry card

How much is your data worth?

Buying floppy disks for your computer? Maxell
floppies come in 3in, 514 in and 8in sizes, single and
double density and you’ll get absolute reliability every
time. It makes sense to entrust your vital data to a
reputable brand and Maxell’s wide acceptance with
major users such as software publishers and
government departments endorses their claims for top
reliability. The rapidly expanding dealer and
distributor network means easy availability too.
Contact me now for more information.

434 on enquiry card

A free Microwriter course

I’m offering free Microwriter self-teach courses to the
first 250 business or professional people to circle the
number below. This is your chance to find out for your-
self how easily you can touch-type with the Microwiter
within minutes. Thousands of business people all over
the world are using the Microwriter portable word
processor daily for correspondence, reports, notes and
any other written work. The remarkably simplified
five-finger keyboard can produce the entire
alpha/numeric range and other functions.

435 on enquiry card

Dictation: let’s talk

One of Dictaphone’s most advanced portables, the
324 gives you a full two hours’ recording on a cassette
one-third the size of the standard C-type.
So it’s a handy and convenient way to catch up with
that backlog of correspondence when you’re out of
the office. You can even use the 324 as a note-taker at
meetings. Press the conference button and you’ve got
an instant record of the main speaker’s voice.
All this in a machine that measures a mere 4Vi x
2 14 in. I have full details.

436 on enquiry card

• Circle No. 113 ^

software for the 64,

WMg

iR SOFTWARE KEEPING YOU POOR ?

I I

A good tool is worth
its weight in gold.

JfitCUDAfr*

SM SOFTWARE

Sill TEXT 64

The professional text processor with more than 80 functions
to aid productivity^ multi-colour display; up to 120 columns
without extra hardware; search &■ replace; enhanced block handling;
direct access to addresses in CUDA files; etc etc

oww £50

yiH CUDA 64

Your professional standard, personal address filing system. Direct access
to 620 addresses per disk; 5 extra lines per address for comments;
totally menu-driven; powerful editing and back up facilities;
several hardcopy facilities, OW LY £

yil! KIT 64

The famous programming tool for Commodore micros. Extends BASIC - merge, find,
re-number, dump, trace, enhanced floppy monitor (disk doctor), highly efficient machine
language monitor with built-in assembler, disassembler, trace, and many other help-
ful features. A real golden tool!

ONLY £40

J&/ISM64

This index sequential file manager gives you a new dimension on direct access
file handling. Up to 40 keys, variable record lengths, simultaneous handling of 10 files.
How can you program without such a tool?

ONLY £40

Jill MAE 64

The definitive tool for the would-be master of the 64. If you are ready for
programming in assembler, buy it now. Not for beginners, this tool will help you
to fashion masterpieces of the programmer's art. Coexists with
Commodore BASIC. ONLY £40

PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW!

If your Commodore dealer cannot supply, contact us direct.

Cheque with order please. Prices include vat, packing and carriage
within the UK. Allow 7 days for delivery. All programs on disk
and described in detail in a manual.

Prices firm to end 1983

SM SOFTWARE (UK I Ltd
Raglan House, Long Street
Dursley Glos.
tele; 0453 46065 h 2101

Part of the SM Software group, supplying international software.

□ eater enquiries invited.

Please phone for the address of your nearest Dealer

MEMOTECH LTD STATION LANE WITNEY OXON 0X8 6BX TIL* 0993 2977 TLX* 83372 MEINTEC G

sional

The All-Purpose System

The MTX Series is □ new departure in micro-computer technology *
Whether your needs as a user are for persona/ programming,
gomes playing , scientific or process control, educational or
business use the MTX Series is already capable or very easily
adaptable to almost every application. Glance through the
standard features below - you'll see what we mean.

Hardware - 32K RAM

on the MTXSOO, 64K on the MTX512.

The MTX500 has 32K of user RAM as standard (64K on the 512),
expandable to 512K plus 16K of video RAM, controlled by a
separate Video Processor. Sixteen colours , 40 column text, 256 x
19 2 high resolution graphics with all sixteen colours available,
and 32 easily moveable user defined graphics characters (Sprites)
combine to make effective screen displays quick and simp/e to
achieve. Standard outputs are centronics printer port, two joystick
ports, an uncommitted I/O port, 2400 Baud Cassette port,
separate TV and Video Monitor ports, 4 channel sound with hifi
output plus a dedicated cartridge port , Other standard
features include the Z80A processor running at 4MHz, real time
clock, full moving key keyboard with 79 keys including eight
2-function keys and separate numeric pad.

Software

The MTX's 24K ROM contains several languages and routines
which enable the novice or the experienced programmer to make
full use of the machine. Standard languages are MTX BASIC,

MTX LOGO commands, NODDY. ROM routines include an
ASSSEMBLER/D/S ASSEMBLER with screen display of the Z80 CPU
registers, memory and program,which can be manipulated from
the keyboard. Machine code programs can be stepped through
one instruction at a time, and easily called from within BASIC
programs. A further feature is the Virtual Screen facility which
enables the programmer to split the screen into a maximum of
eight sections to work independently whilst maintaining all full
screen facilities. Pascal is available as an add-on ROM pack ,

The Disc Based
Computers from Memotech

Designed to use the full power of the MTX computers the FDX and
HDX moke perfect business systems at prices which make perfect
business sense. Both feature the CP/M operating system, giving
instant access to a wide range of proven application software.
Available in October these feature:

• Full Western Digital floppy disc controller set with SASI
interface for 4 drives, CP/M types 0-13 .

• minimal latency, very high data transfer rates

• optional Colour 80 Column Board

• optional Si/icon Discs ( 1/4 Mb) which dramatically increase the
efficiency of 8 bit software to those of 16/32 bit software;
increases life and reliability of mechanical drive

• permits single disc CP/M operation

FDX- Floppy Disc System

lor 2 5 1/4" Qume drives BOOK unformatted, 347K formatted,

HDX— Hard Disc System

5 l/4' f Qume drive, 500K unformatted, 347K formatted,

5 1/4" Winchester which may be 5, 10, or 20 Mb

All Memotech products are designed and
manufactured in Oxfordshire, England

CP/M (5 a trademark of Digital Research Inc*

MEMOTECH

We’re not just playing games...

BLORRO

A fast maze chase with untold perils
and hazards.

TOADO

Get the toad back to his nest - but
don't get run over or drown on the
way.

MTXCALC

Sophisticated and powerful, the
professional spreadsheet program.

SUPER MINEFIELD

You may have seen other Minefield
games but ours has tanks that lay
invisible mines, and spiders that are
very tricky to avoid.

CONTINENTAL INVADERS

Classic arcade action, with all the
features that make this game so
popular.

KILOPEDE FLIGHT SIMULATOR

This one is very fast - its not easy to Take off, navigate and land your high
get past level two. powered light aircraft, All the features

of true flight.

RADAR/SONAR

Eliminate submarines with a
combination of radar screen and
sonar, very realistic.

ALSO AVAILABLE:

RESCUE, BEAVER,
CONTINENTAL RAIDERS, PILE
UP, SIGNAL MAN and many more.

we mean business too.

MTX WORD PROCESSOR ACCOUNTING PACKAGE

All necessary features are included to Sales and Purchase Ledgers, stock
give a powerful business tool. control, payroll - the complete

business system.

PROJECT PLANNER

Speaks for itself, and helps you achieve
deadlines efficiently and effectively.

STRATEGY BOARD GAMES

CHESS, BACKGAMMON, OTHELLO, DRAUGHTS.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

MATHS 1 PHYSICS 1

The first two programs in a series of specially written software designed to
teach at the pace and level best suited to the user.

Saftuareforthe

CONTINENTAL SOFTWARE UNIT 24 STATION LANE WITNEY

SEBIES

• Circle No. 114

Printout extra

The shop
of things
to come

Glyn Moody discovers how a national chain store is
planning to deal in business micros.

by nature business people and pro-
fessionals are a cautious lot, and never
more so than when it comes to buying
computers. Torn between a fear of being
left behind in the micro race on the one
hand, and on the other of being taken for
an expensive ride, many small businesses
have held back from the initial plunge. The
activities of a minority of cowboy dealers
have threatened to shake people’s
confidence in buying for business.

Any scheme that aims to provide a total
service for the keen but careful business
user Is to be welcomed, and should help to
allay these fears. The Debenhams group
hopes to have done just this. Greens
Business Systems, a wholly owned
subsidiary of the well known chain store,
officially launched its micro service to
businesses. It is claimed to be unique, and
certainly incorporates a number of
interesting ideas.

The centres are not independent shops
but will be placed in existing Debenhams
stores as self-contained sections distinct
from the general hurly-burly. Debenhams 1
market research shows that business users
are reluctant to go to conventional dealers,
but no such reluctance has been found in
the more free-ranging atmosphere of large
department stores. Greens hopes to
capitalise on this, though acknowledging
an initial credibility gap: after all, who
would expect extensive business- micro
expertise in the store you go to for a pair of
tights or a new saucepan.

A key feature of the new project is
Debenhams 1 reputation — according to
those market researchers again — for
reliability and stability. To reinforce this
idea of dependability. Greens offers the
following ingredients in its standard micro
package:

1. Extensive professional expertise, both
in the form of sales advice and free
seminars. Using the stores 1 existing
training and catering facilities, Greens
provides free evening seminars on such
subjects as micros in business, the ACT
Apricot and the IBM PC.

2. Authorised dealerships from IBM,
Apple and ACT. IBM has scrutinised
the scheme and has so far granted
dealerships to centres in four stores.

3. A full range of training programmes
backing up the machines and software
available. There are 28 different courses
ranging from introductory micro-
appreciation sessions to two-day courses
on using dBase II. The cost varies from
£75 to £100 per day.

4. Installation with on-site training. The
aim is, not unreasonably, to leave the
end-user with a fully working system,
and with enough knowledge to run it.

5. A 24-hour maintenance service. In
addition to running a help-line phone
number, Greens guarantees that an
engineer will visit within 24 hours of a
call being made. Maintenance for a
typical Apricot system from Greens will
cost about £150, excluding parts;
maintenance contracts can be taken out

at current rates for up to four years,

6. The Deben ham’s “price promise 11 is
offered. If a customer can find the
same equipment on offer locally at a
lower price, he or she may return within
seven days and Greens will match it.
Leasing options are also available; a
typical Apricot system, for example, would
cost around £54 a month. It will be possible
to trade in a leased computer for a newer
model merely by increasing payments.
Initially seven Debenhams stores operate
the business-micro scheme — those at
Oxford, Harrow, Romford, Guildford,
Southampton, Staines and at Harvey
Nichols in Knightsbridge. The Guildford
store has been running as a prototype since
March 1983; the rest followed six months
or so later.

Greens is at pains to emphasise the
complete separation from the cheaper
games-oriented sector. Through in-store
centres and travelling representatives the
company sees itself as offering complete
professional systems. Only four machines
are currently sold: Apple 11, ACT Sirius
and Apricot, and the IBM PC, a choice

which has been largely dictated by the range
and availability of software. The software
itself is restricted mainly to broad
applications systems rather than specialised
ve r ti caLma r k et pa c k ages .

The frequent reference to the ACT
Apricot is no accident. Greens 1 joint
managing director Michael Milman waxes
lyrical about the machine, and goes so far
as to suggest that k could do for the U,K.
business market what the IBM PC did in
the U.S. To back this up he points out that
the average attendance at Apricot seminars
has been running at over 50, and already
over 1 00 machines have been sold by
Greens alone.

Whether this prediction turns out to be
true or not, Greens is certainly thinking big.
The first target turnover is £10 million, and
the plan is to have 20 centres open by the
end of 1984 with another 40 a year later,
eventually taking space in non-Debenham
stores. According to Milman, Greens
intends to become the biggest dealer in the
U.K. So next time you need some business
micro equipment it could well be worth
looking in your local department store. Q

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

29

G.W. COMPUTERS LTD LONDON’S WEST END NATIONWIDE OVERNITE SERVICE MORE PRODUCT

RANGES BETTER SERVICE PROBABLY THE WIDEST SELECTION OF NETWORKS...

MICROS...AND PRINTERS ON DISPLAY NATIONWIDE

*THE NEW DBMS!

I (series III of the world’s first l task-robot-programs J }*****
*****PEature$* *** *

1400 character record sizes ....... 32000 records per filename

mathematic al scratchpad 20 main/200 sub fields per record

record relational indexes.., field and record reiaied formulae.

iranslateable to any language .. Mump4o f any of 32DGQ records per file

User-def i n eab le report i ng ...... random/bi na ryi'keyj'mult i pi e field searc h . .

field proteofion/classi f icat ion if-t hen' quest ioning

eifher-oc same as. greater, smaller file protect ionf password entry

sorts 'alpha or numeric 1 any window range match, not match, integer match...

1 2 on I i ne f i le a rch i lectu res. sort speed 500 records per 20 second s. . . .

12 online file architectures

240 fields using cross-referencing

cross’ record calculations

■Jump-to" any record in 12 files

User defineabie filesffieid wordsteizes

endless 'either-or 1 matching

formu I ale/recall on selection criteria....

13 interrogation question types

short f i 1 mg output/aud it trails, .. .

Word star & M basic compatible

DBMS Ilf. 7 NEW SWITCH MODE FACILITY ENABLES YOU TO CROSS UP TO 12 DIFFERENT FILES
(32000 RECORDS PER FILE) PRE-SELECTING ANY OF UP TO 20 FIELDS PER RECORD/FILE FOR
DISPLAY/PRINT OUTPUT (240 FIELDS) IN ALL ONE MASSIVE ENQUIRY CAN PASS THROUGH

384,000 RECORDS

You might have two files whose records are directly related to each other, so that the first file (say containing names and addresses) refers
to the second file (say financial and other information relating to the same record numbers in the first file) directly. Then you can simply
select that in file 1 you are interested in just the name and telephone numbers, whereas in file 2 , you are interested in the income, trading
period and number of branches, information. Your enquiry can then pass through both files highlighting that information only. Actually there
doesn't need to be a strict correlation between the same record numbers in different files, and you can also on just one JUMP command go
to any record in any of the 32000 records in any of the twelve files and carry on cross-referencing from there onwards.

DBMS'S MACROS WORK FROM THE MOMENT YOU INSERT THE 'TASK DISK' IN THE COMPUTER
Simply design your file, give its fields your words, setup your report mask, and then enter your records. Switch to automatic drive' and
formulated any task you wish to program to fulfill the task is stored as a macro T ake a copy of the program on another 'task disk' and from
then on, the task disk will function without a single key stroke. Think of a number of such 'task disks' such as "stock-re-order reports";
"stock-valuation reports"; "analysis"; "patient history analysis"; "research analysis"; "budgetting-analysis"; "vehicle-location
control"; "librarian analysis"; "plus more?"

Not only does this program surpass most of its kind that you might buy elsewhere, but if you buy the hardware from us, then you get it
FREE . . . DBMS II (WITHOUT MACROS) AND DBMS III ARE FULLY IMPLEMENTED UNDER CPM-86 (trn) AND MS-DOS (tm) I.E.:
Slfti US/VICTOR/1 BM DBMS II IS €395.00 (or £250.00 by mail order ex, training) , , DBMS 111 is £575.000 (or £295,00 by mail order
ex. training).

The ALL YOU NEED system deal that is the best package on the market.

The professional office system . ♦ ,

IBM {256k l am/5.6mb dsk)

Nec 3550 daisy printer
Diskettes

Cables and testing
Wordstar word -processor
Mail-merge
Super-calc spreadsheet
Dbrns database management
Basic interpreter
Basic compiler
Spelsfar word-check
The £ KEY>

Transactional -database for invoicing/
mailshot /sales ledger/purchase ledger/
order-entry/personnel files/aged debt analysis/
letters/disk spreadsheet etc Direct telephone
link to our system by modem
modem software
Dos 2.00
Cpm 86

Concurrent cpm 86
Cbasic 86

The personal budget system . . .

Sirius 1 (128k ram/ 1200k disks)

2195

Oki micro line 80 printer

295

Diskettes

150

Cables and testing

85

W o rd - s t a r wo rd pro ces sor

295

Mail-merge

95

Super- calc spreadsheet

195

Dbrns II 1.7 database management

575

Basic interpreter

150

G. W’s price as a system

SAVES 1040.00

2995.00

4035

Why not phone in for details of other systems we
have to offer. Our range includes: Ibm/Dec/Sirius/
Superbrain/Epson Televideo/Sanyo/Texas/

North-star Nec/Qume/Diablo/Gki/Olympia/Dre
Anadex/Corvus/Compac/Corona/ and many others!!.
We specialise in network systems using resources
such as spools/port-expanders/modems/
hard-disks/ramdisks/concurrent ramtasks etc.

G.W’s price as a system
SAVES 2005.00

7695*00

If you want serious advice by the experts: just call 01-636-8210 or 01-6310-4818 and leave your
name & address on our 24 hour answerphone. We will send you a complete info-pack.

Terms: C.W.O./C.O.D, prices exclude VAT, Showroom demonstrations only by prior
appointment. Unless otherwise agreed, all warranties are the standard ‘return to base*
manufacturer’s warranty. Annual maintenance facilities are available nationwide upon request.

Telephones: 01-636 8210 01-631-4818 Telex: 892031 TWC G.

G.W, Computers incorporated in Boston. Mass. USA.

Grama (Winter) Ltd. 43/55 Bedford Court Mans, Bedford Avenue, London WC1.

TELEPHONES: 01 636 8210 : 01 631 4818 : TLX: 892031 TWCG (BOSTON 94-0890)

AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR POTENTIAL SYSTEM BUYERS

Any serious buyer knows that although the HARDWARE
and SOFTWARE are both inter-dependant, the choice of
software is CRITICAL to the consequence of having useless
piece of hardware nor not.

With this in mind our standard system deal gives you the
software free with a system purchase. However, if you
want more!

NOW we have a piece of software that is a challenge to the
highest state of the art on micro-compute ns today. It's the
first of its kind world- wide. It is called THE KEY, and it will
unlock the power of your micro to the limits of your
imagination. It is very expensive however, because it is the
first to embody many features of other programs, in one
single program that has over-lapping functions. It costs
995,00 Stg., and is available with a system purchase.

it features, the entire list of functions already covered by our
program called DBMS 111. 7a to be seen elsewhere in our
advertisement. PLUS. + + + + -H T f + +

Paint any form including upwards from 100 (depending
upon size of ram in hardware) data fields on the screen.
Screen width up to 250 columns. Page lengths 100 lines.

The form might be a letter where data fields on the screen.
Screen width up to 250 columns. Page lengths 100 liens.

The form might be a letter where data fields are name-
addresses. Search files and accept any fields on teh
database into any fields on the letter. The form might be a
spreadsheet, where searches call records (in column ated

style) from the database and perform calculations, the
difference here is that unlike other 'calc' programs giving
you 254 lines per spreadsheet, THE KEY gives you 32000
lines If your database has that many records.

The standard attributes of any field, allow you to SEARCH
OTHER FILES for fields to accept into any field on the
current form, plus allowance to POST OTHER FILES any
fields from the current form into any fields on that file,
RELATE TO AS MANY OTHER FILES, as the number of
data fields you have on the master form. Make data fields
CALCULATE AGAINST FORMULAE, and other data fields.
VALIDATE DATA INPUTS criticially character by character;
numerically, alphabetically and date-wise.

NO MANUAL NEEDED, all help menues accessible by hitting
H esc r at any point in the three major modes of activity
(create, data entry, data query).

You can set up dozens of individual files that eventually are
inter-connected through one master form; like an invoice,
order, personnel-file, stock control, mail-shot. The master
form may at every juncture of a data field, go outside the
current form to supplementary forms for data retrieval, or
post-filing.

Come along the computing road with us. We're out in front
so you'll get the best there is at the price. On IBM and
SIRIUS,

' The first robot-concurrent-forms-data base-text-processor -
spreadsheet- no- me nual-all-in-one- program .

Features.

G. W. COMPUTERS LTD — Tel: 01-631 4818

Contains the highest state of the art software available today

FORMS/TEXT/CALC/DBMS IV ALL IN ONE PROGRAM - "KEY" - at £995

When you budget for a complete system of software you eventually end up with a host of packages like. Sales, Purchases, Nominal,
Data, Text, Calc, Mailshot, Invoice, Order, Workflow, Personnel, and so on.

The list is endless and the outlay several thousands of pounds.

Design a form as wide as a window of 250 characters, long as needed. Cursor movements are 'left, right,
up, down, delete left delete right, tab right-left-up-down' Paint your form as you like directly on the screen.

Write a letter as you see it on the screen, edit it then simply enter P to print.

Set into the form, your data fields, "££££££" and specific file-related activities, formulae and validation
checks.

Enter values and see the spreadsheet calculate itself.

Search files for data to be inserted to fields specified.

All the features of DBMS III, explained elsewhere in our ad,

Here's an example of an invoice you might design for your stationery

You could design your own spreadsheet, order form, statement, or any other kind of form that is required to fit your existing

stationery.

Database.

INVOICE < 0 > ££££££££ E C ££

To £<1 >£££££££££££££
£<2>C££££££££££££££££
£<3>££££EE£££££££££££
£<4>£££££££E£££C£

From: G.W. Lid

55 Bedford Court Mans.
Bedford Avenue
London W.C.1,

£<5> £££££££££

Tel: 01-636 8210

Date <6>££.££

Tax point </>££.££

Agent <8>£££

Quantity

Description Cost

Tax Total

<9> £££ < 1 0 > £ £ ££££££££££££ <11>££ <12>££ <13>£££

< 1 4 > £t <1 &>££££££££££££££ <16>C£ <17>££ <1B>£££

and so on...

Total... <19>££££££ Tax..,<2Q>££££

< ??> items < 1 >to < 5 >internai command to request name input, and then search an address file for details.

< ??> items < 6 >to < 7 > request date input and validate.

< ?? > item < 8 > request agent number and validate range.

<??> <9 > request quantity, validate range,

< ?? > < 1 0 > request description, search file, accept, and calculate fields < 1 1 > , <12>, < 1 3 > , if finished in-

voice then calculate fields < 1 9> and <20>

Now comes the more valuable facility, you can provide the 'FORM' with file-related instructions, not only to request a 'console' in-
put for a file search against names, and stock, but after the invoice is finished the fields you have selected may be passed to

related files,

EG: Send fields <0 >, <1 >, <6 >, <7 >, <11>, <12;>, <13>, < 1 9 > , <2Q> to a sales ledger.

Then send fields <9 >, <10>, < 1 1 >, to product analysis fife.

Then send fields <0 > , <1 >, <7 > , < 1 9> , < 20 > to V.A.T. file
Then send fields <10>, <11>, <12>, <13> to Nominal ledger.

Available at present only on SIRUS/IBM PC.

1 Circle No. 115

NOW also

available
packaged
with

Contact your dealer

dBASE

CLIP — Compressed Library Interchange Program
CP/M CPM86 MS DOS MS DOS 2-0 £95.

• Backs up a Winchester
on to floppies.

• Compresses text or data to
less than half size.

• Large files can span multiple
discs.

• Selective backup or retrieval,
inclusive or exclusive basis.

CLIP has no equal in reputation,
convenience, power or economy.

CLIP comes standard with the CIFER
Business Management System, and
with all Winchester systems supplied
by COLT and RML

o

KEELE CODES LTD

University of Keele, Keele,
Access accepted

CLIP offers effortless backup.

You can create new commands using a
menu procedure, and give each command
a name, for later use. To repeat that
command, the name alone is sufficient.

on an With CLIP’S powers of selection and
compression, the user can expect a
four-to-one saving over global copying,
with no effort except to feed discs on cue.

Or, CLIP can select just the new/updated
files and reduce the backup load still
further.

All prices exc). VAT, post free in U.K.

Most popular disc formats from stock.

Staffordshire, U.K. Tel: (0782] 629221 Telex: 36113

dBASE II is a trademark of ASHTON-TATE

> Circle No, 117

f

Datali

fe

Datalife

-fir' 1 J' C'vJl

g • Ty.rkass l

Datalife

WQRDFLOW
ELECTRONIC OFFICE
SERVICES LIMITED

The Datalife People

DISK PRICES PER BOX OF TEN
5i " Mini Disks
MD525-01M0SSSD/DSDD
MD550 01/10 DSDD
MD577-0 1/10 SSQD
MD557-0 1/10 DSQD

1-3 4-7 8 +

£ £ £

18.79 18.30 17,84
26.71 26.01 25.36
29.00 28.26 27.53
35.07 34.16 33.30

8 r DISKS

FD34-9000 SSSD 26SEC 1 28 BYTES/SEC 26.50 25.00 23.00
FD32-90OO SSSD 32SEC HOLES + 1

INDEX HOLE 26,00 25,00 24,00

FD 1 0-4008 DSSD 8SEC 51 2 BYTES/SEC 31,00 29. 00 28. 00
DD34-40Q 1 D2TMDSDD

31,00 28.50 27.00

UNITE ALISED/INDEX HOLE.

9 STOP PRESS

1 9 SHEEPCOTE ROAD HARROW MIDDLESEX
Telephone 01 863 0994 865 4463

We are currently taking orders for the
new 3" and 3 compact disks. Ring
now for the best possible price.

v

1 Circle No. 116

COMPUTER FURNITURE

a

Many
other
models
available

Write or phone for full details to:

Crowther-Cosine

6 Middleton Rd., Whittington,
Lichfield, STAFFS WS14 91MB

Tel: 0534 432376

32

• Circle No. 118

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

BYTE DRIVE 500

first Disc Drive with Hybrid Interface Cable and Master D.O.S.

For too long, the performance
potential of your computer, has
been limited by the lack of a
suitable Disc Drive. Now I.T.L’s Byte
Drive 500 meets this need.

With its 500K Bytes (440K Bytes

3" FDD. Unit

formatted) capacity, and access
time of only 3ms, Byte Drive 500
opens up a new era of computing
capability for the more ambitious
user.

Byte Drive 500 is compact,

Hybrid interface cable

economically priced and easy to
operate. Systems will shortly be
available to interface with Dragon,
Spectrum and Vic computers.

The full D.O.S. included in the
price consists of:

Master D.O.S. disc

* Power supply unit & mains cable

A single P.S.U. can power 2 drives.

Power unit cable

100 page manual

RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE £260.00 + V.A.T.

Byte Drive 500 is available from most quality computer retailers. In case of difficulty contact:
I.T.L. KATHM1LL LTD.

The Old Courthouse, New Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4QJ.

> Circle No. 119

33

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

34

• Circle No, 120

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Chip-chat

Britain
back in
front

Ray Coles on the story behind the Inmos Transputer,

there can be little doubt that the
establishment of the Inmos high-
technology semiconductor operation with
large chunks of British taxpayers 1 money
was a risky venture. Too often in the past,
such government interference in the market
place has resulted in the creation of
unstable, inefficient industries which are
constantly returning for more cash,
without ever delivering the profits which
were expected from them.

It is too early yet to state definitely that
Inmos will break this mould, but all of its
activities to date seem to suggest that it will.
Already it has performed wonders for
Britain's international image by con-
sistently producing innovative products
which have put the country back in the
forefront of high technology. I for one
have all my fingers and toes crossed in the
confident hope that this well organised,
highly motivated, ingenious — and, damn
it all, British — company can pull it off.

The Inmos operation was boldly planned
and cleverly executed by a group of
expatriate British engineers and scientists
who had been forced to work in the United
States to develop their talents as chip
designers, iann Barron, now managing
director, led the search for funds with the
simple but informed message that there was
no reason why the American microchip
miracle should not be repeated here. All
you had to do was to think big and use the
best brains and equipment in the business.

New breed

The marketing strategy was simple loo:
start with the fastest static RAMs in the
world; then move into 64K dynamic
RAMs; then set the electronics world on its
head with a totally new breed of high-
performance microprocessor which would
be a revolution in itself. How different to
the usual ultra-cautious approach so much
favoured by other British semiconductor
manufacturers: “Let’s wait until someone
else has done it, then we will have a dabble.
But don’t spend too much on it, as we
probably won't succeed."

Inmos set up its first manufacturing and
design centre in Colorado Springs, in the
western U.S. Us first static RAM parts
designed there, the 1400 series, went on to
become world beaters as predicted. A CAD
design centre in Bristol followed, and
then a second manufacturing facility in
Newport, Gwent. By early 1983 the 64K
dynamic-RAM family was in production.

One of the main tasks of the Bristol
design centre was to work on the
microprocessor, and once again no easy
options vvere taken. Inmos wanted a
product that the market would be desperate
for: not just another 8086 or 68000 done,
but something new which could offer a
quantum leap in processing power so that
the world would be breaking down the
factory doors to get at it.

The new microprocessor, called the
T424 or Transputer, has now been
revealed after months of rumour and

speculation. What a machine it is! Designed
from the outset to change the way we
think about computer architecture, the
Transputer is a 32-bit processor with a
4Gbyte address range. It can work by itself
or as part of a processor array to deliver
astonishing performance.

Inside the 1.1 Sin, square, 84-pin
Transputer package there is a single CMOS
silicon chip containing the equivalent of
250,000 transistors. They are themselves
interconnected to form the main functional
blocks including a 32-bit CPU, a 32- bit
multiplexed data/address bus, a separate
eight-bit peripheral bus, four duplex serial
communication links and an array of
4Kbyte of 50 nanosecond static RAM.

Used alone, a single Transputer will be a
powerful system in its own right. As part of
an array of similar processors, the
Transputer provides the basic building
block for the design of fifth-generation
machines which will be able to execute over
IQ 9 instructions per second.

If there is one word which best describes
the Transputer approach, it has to be
“concurrency". On the chip itself, the
memory interface bus, the peripheral
interface bus and the four serial buses all
act independently and at high speed. Put an
array of Transputers together and each chip
can operate alone, communicating with its
fellows over the serial links to receive
instructions or operands and to transmit
intermediate results. With four serial
channels available, any one chip in an array
can send or receive data in the up, down,
left and right directions all at the same time.

Programming

The problems of programming such a
highly parallel system have also been
tackled by Inmos. As usual it has come up
with an ingenious solution in the form of
the brand-new Occam language. Occam
handles concurrency by the definition of
“processes", which are independent
computation units complete with their own
programs and data, and “channels”, which

provide the mechanism for communication
between processes. The same Occam
program can be executed either by a single
Transputer or by an array of any size. To
make things easy, the Transputer
architecture and instruction set directly
support the Occam methodology.

Keep it simple

Occam was developed by Inmos in
conjunction with Professor CAR Hoare,
director of the Programming Research
Group at Oxford University. One of
Hoare's academic predecessors was the
14th-century philosopher, William of
Occam, w r ho first formalised the concept
now known as Occam’s Razor. Translated
from the Latin it states: Entities should not
be multiplied beyond necessity — or in
other words, keep it simple.

The Occam programming system is
already on sale for use on a variety of other
machines, including the Apple II and the
ACT Sirius, but the real power of the
language will not be fully utilised until the
first Transputers start to roll off the Inmos
production line in late 1984. The basic
Transputer instruction set is very simple,
with less than 70 instructions. Some of
them execute in a single minor cycle of just
50 nanoseconds; others, such as division,
take up to 2 microseconds. The on-chip
RAM array can be used for data or
instructions and gives the great advantage
of short access times. Memory accessed
outside the chip itself will be slower because
of the need to buffer the interconnections
to conventional TTL levels. Up to
10,000,000 instructions per second can be
achieved by a Transputer operating from
internal memory. Following the T-424
32-bit Transputer will be the T-222 16-bit
device with the same instrucion set, and
after that the G-2 13 graphics processor and
the M-212 disc controller.

Personally, I would like a few shares in
Inmos. 1 wish the company every success
with its current quest for extra funding. It
deserves to succeed, and so do we. Q

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

35

COMPARE OUR PRICES

COME TO US LAST!!!

CDC DISKETTES A T CRAZY PRICES!

STATE SOFT 10 or 16 SECTORED

Code Type

TOl 5J" 40 TFtK singflD saled .,

TD2 ,r 40 TRK double sided £2-05

m 5|' r 80 TRK single skied £2.85

10451" 00 TRK double sided

T05 H ,p 40 TRK SS-SD

T06 8' r 40 TFtK SS-00

TD7 B J ' 40 TRK DS-SD

TD0 8" 4QTHKDS-00 ...

..£2.99

..£1.78

£ 2.18

£2.85

£ 2.96

19 per to*. Prices per diskette quoted. Discounts for quantity
ADO 15^ VAT 4 E1.50P&P

MINIMUM ORDER FOR PAPER -5 BOXES

LARGE RANGES OF PAPER AND RIBBONS A T
GREAT PRICES

e.Q.: Listing Paper

Code Type

TD9 11%8r GO GSM Plain

TtM0ir*3ie0GSM Perl'd Mftrgns
TOIL 11*141" 70CSM Music Ruled

flJBBQNS:lODlf EPSON FX-00

RIBBONS: 10 off EPSON FX-00

fOofl EPSON FX-1GQ

lEtelv.l let metal carthdge&l

15% VAT * 1 1 ,50 GARB. PER ITEM (PAPER) DR BOX OF 10 RIBBONS.
DELIVERY 10-14 DAYS

MANY MORE AVAILABLE - PHONE TOR DETAILS NOW)
01-965 0672

Very powerful and versatile, from Rade Systems
the R150 multiprocessor SBC £3851! (ex. VAT
+ can - ), Amazing spec. Look what you get:
£8GA at 4MHz with G4K RAM 52/8" disk con-
troller, Z80A CTC, Z80A DMA, Z80A PlO,
memory mapped VDU uses M6S4S CftTC, got
25 k 80 char display, you can use all the TDB
option cards to build your own powerful system,
or build your own TD81 Suitable power supply
£95- Keyboard from £85. Cased Video Monitors
from £95. Keyboard from £85. Cased Video
Monitors from £95. Supplied with full technical
documentation. Demand for this excellent
machine is high! Order now! Power re-
quirements: i 5 V@ 1 . 5A r #T2V@25A, - 12V
required for RS232 option - available on our
standard PSU.

3

,. T

DON'T WASTE MONEY!

ON OTHER COMPUTERS: COMPARE THE TOS
WITH OTHERS - COME TO US LAST!!

FROM £905 Far dual 250KS disk system with 25“ 00 char.

. VDU, 03-Vey keybord, user definable cliar. set

PWLIFS 1 2 ' VDU 25 “ 00 cha. i 20K0 RA M (iw uppEf limit la expansrorv, due to

mp unique bus slnjcfure. This aha allows GPUs
la to mixed]. 4 K 13 RDM wiih MJC monitor,
tootsuap. dual RS232 puns to 19.2K baud,
software controlled, Uniifije 'stacks hkf option
modules a'low easy and cheap expansion ol your
system - the first rational development from
5-1 0B bus based machine!

Dual

TDS SYSTEM
PROCESSOR
Dual Serial
Pans £995

25DKB^ V_ 1

w*

TDS Keyboard

CHOOSE YOUfi SOFTWARE
FIRST mH COMPARE OLIft
HARDWARE . . .

per 1000 £3.75
per 1000 £3.95
per 100D £5.95

£43.00

£49,95

E 42.50

CPiMGO £139. CP;MB6 E225, 0080,7 with
128KB £405 extra gives you THE most powerful
machine la its class. You could spend £6 r 00Q lor
a machine of this specification.

Other options include: 64KB 0 AM expansion
£135. 192X6 RAM £249, IEEE480 £97.50.
Sync comm$ £73. Dual PacaRcl Poris £59. Dual
RS232 £59- 60000 CPU ETBA. 16032 CPU
£TBA. A tD D and D to A converters, hiftli «s.
graphics, floppy and hard disk con rollers and
drives, tractor tod, real-time clock, ’calendar with
BBU and more on the way!

SOFTWARE: WordSiaa. Mailmetp, D Base It,
Personal Pearl, MBasio, CBasic, Pascal 2, MT + ,
Fortran. GfS Goto!. G. Cardbox, FMS. DAtastar,
CelcSlar, Supcrcalo, Mathematic, PeacLtree
Safes Nominal. Purchase Ledgers, Inventory
management, Payroll, etc., ADA, Charger, Ratlor,
Act 00, Act 65, 6B, 69. 86i88, TrenB, Calchum
end much more!

PHONE TO ARRANGE DEMO

01-965 0627

24 HOURS - SEVEN DAYS

KEYSTR

SCALE COPY OF KEYSTAH KEYBOARD
SHOWING THE FUNCTIONS PROVIDED

- #

ONLY £189-95 e. VAT 5 cert. Add [2 m\
SUITS MOST MACHINES:

KeyStar's Irittidly keyboard allows yon to work
mere nlficenlly saving time and mistakes!
Demand -s high (or this amaring addition to the
world's most papular WP package.

EG GRDE0 NOW!

01-965 0027 Telex: 24708

Complete TDB system las illust.) with Keystar, Epson
RX SO, disk filing box, CPM 2.2 and WordStar, VDU and
keyboard

ONLY £1895!

ADO £19 can. Ddcs not include desk unit. Price is e*. VAT & cwr,

OR with H R 1 5 Daisy Wheel - £1995

fex.VAT, £14 earrl

NO MORE FUMBLING
FDR THE CONTROL'
KEY!

ITS

HERE!

Tto answer to aB your WP
problems!! If you use
WordStar, KeyStar wffl allow
even iliuse unfamiliar with
WP to use the system
straight away!

INCREDIBLE!

A high quality daisy wheel printer with RS232 interface. 3KB
character buffer, and a host of clhw features hto lull WordStar
function support dual crAnur |red,Wack) printing
ONLY £475 (ex. VAT * £12 carrl

SPECIAL OFFER UNTIL JANUARY 1. 1984
FREE DATA CABLE WITH EVERY BROTHER HR 15!

Use this printer with the few-cosi TD0 micro tor the ultimate it
lew-cost WP systems.

FROM

£12

DATA CABLES

MADE TO YOUR SPECfOff SHELF

TALK ABOUT CHEAP!

Philips I2 ,r Video Monitor - 25 * 00 characters, P3l green
phosphor attractive case.

Ex. VAT a Carr.

- ONLY £84,501

KEEP RUNNING OUT Of SPACE!

BOOS EBRORS? ADD AN EXTRA DISK DRIVE
TO YOUR MACHINE

New LSIs make
the FD-55 Series
better than ever

m

CASED
| AND
UNCASED
UNITS

WITH

OR

| WITHOUT
POWER
| SUPPLY
MODULES

BBC COMPATIBLE

CASED AND PSU-

FD-55 imirn

250KB SS-SD TAX

F 1 33

•

HjJF Ihe hftflh; nl

5QOKG IK AQ TflK„

tm

iVwei

500KB SS BD TRK

£ 595

*

Cafwcnr Irum 125 KBm tfl

1 MB DS BO IRK

£229

1 .GWHylES

1 DS BO THK

... £209

*

PWi«l tfc k rrg£Sti<Mm--i

2 drm PSU MiVkfe.

£99

■

Bnntiei? DC tirecE i'hr (mtor

i ekiw PSU rrudies

EBB

•

Hnjn dal* ACC tsi

4

Low power geierelian '4.B W.

•

LECi-pSjlc sensor xfsiBm

DUAL DRIVE UNITS 3.2MB 2MBytes

WITHPSU £g 75 j £ 4 g 5 |

Twin 25DK S$ 40 TRK £299

I Twin 500K DS 4B TRK E425

Twin 5D0K 5S 40.00 TRK £42 5
Twin I MB DC 40,60 TRK. £495
Twm 1,6MB DS 80 TRK...EQQ0

fee. case and PSD fee. case and
PSU

e* VAT ex VAT. Carr. £4.

TRADE ENQUIRIES
WELCOME

Post now to: TELEDIGITAL COMPUTERS, 42 GORST ROAD, PARK ROYAL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, LONDON NW10 6LD

"I end os# cheque

Name Please send me

Addle £5_

Phone us if you require mure
~ inform alio n on any of I he

-01 9668627

aty

Description

tbi

+ VAT $ Carr

"My Accass/Visfl
is

Allow up to 28 days
delivery on non
products. Your antry may
be sent by return.

'Delete where applicable.

36

• Circle No. 121

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

■ Unrivalled price/performance

■ Immediate availability

■ Full dealer support package

■ Consistent quality

■ No-nonsense warranties

■ National coverage

B ACKED BY the Dyneer Group, X-Data has
resources to buy the highest quality products at
best possible prices, so the dealer gets the deal he
deserves. Superb depot service facilities, unrivalled
technical support and fast action telephone service are all
X-Data hallmarks.

And for the dealer, fast response. Sensible stock-
levels allow rapid delivery against dealers' orders. Fast
response to technical queries gives you the help you want
when you want it. True specifications, so the dealer
knows that whatever he buys will do its job properly, and
guaranteed quality which ensures no hidden costs.

X-Data supports the dealer. X-Data ensures the
dealer gets what he needs. X-Data will be here to serve
you when the others have gone.

■ OKI matrix printers

■ Dyneer daisywheel printers

■ IMI Winchester disk drives

■ Dyneer disk sub-systems

■ Xebec disk sub-systems

■ Dyneer colour/mono monitors

O + HAS

ARRIVED

. In the deluge of computers, at last
there's a ray of light.

The Rainbow 100+ personal
computer. The latest addition to the
Rainbow range from Digital.

It allows you to cope with increasing
business demands by having a more
powerful memory. (Up to 896Kb for the
technically minded.)

It lets you change programmes
from CP/M to MS DOS by simply
pressings key. (When using the integral
10MB Winchester Disk drive.)

A choice of monitors is available.
High resolution monochromes orcoiour,

for graphics and text.

Lotus 1-2-3 has been added to the
leading range of software that already
covers most types of businesses.

Two days at one of our 25 personal
computertraining courses are included
in the price of £4,200.

As are full customer support,
and twelve month on-site servicing
warranty.

And of course ourtelephone help line.

Call our Customer Information
Centre on 0256 59299 for more about
the new Rainbow 100+.

Think of it as the pot of gold.

1 -2-3 is a Trade M ark af Lotus Devel □ pment Corporatio n.

AUTHORISED

PERSONAL COMPUTER
DEALER

LONDON

Beauchamp Computer Systems Ltd.,

1 15 Fulham Road, London SW3 &RL.

Telephone: 0H589 1975.

Beauchamp Computer Systems Ltd..

22 Deerpark Road Morden Road. Merton
SWI9 3UN, Telephone: 01-589 1975.

Circular Ltd..

69-73 Theobalds Road, London WClX 8TA
Telephone; 01-242 0223.

Computacenter.

290 Kensington High Street, London WI4 8PA
Telephone Oi-602 5405,

Computerland - Marble Arch (Fotodisc Ltd.),

3S Edgware Road, London W2 2EH,

Telephone: C 1-7 23 3071.

ClMfMatrrsos Ud.

OpHtiitnt

262 Earls Court Road, London SW5-
Telephone: DI-375 4503
Digitus Ltd..

Lading House, 10-14 Bedford Street,

London WC2E 9HE Telephone: 01-379 696S.
DSR(UK) Ltd.

27 Princes Street, Hanover Square.

London WlR 8NQ, Telephone: 01-409 0077.
Demotab Ltd.,

Victory House. 99-103 Regent Street,

London Wl. Telephone: 01-439 3971.

Cuestel Ltd ,

40 Neiv Bridge Street, London EC4.

Telephone: 01 -24 0O416,

Hamilton Rentals Limited.

Hamilton House, North Circular Road.

London NWlO 7 LIB. Telephone: 01-961 6777,
Hoskyns Croup limited,

Africa House, 64-73 King-sway,

London WC2B6BL Telephone: 01-242 1951.
Micro Business Systems PLC..

St Mary Abehurch House, 1 23 Cannon Street,
London EC4N 5 AX. Telephone: 01-626 2181,
Oye?, Professional Services Limited.

Ltgal profession

Oye 2 House, EO. Box 55. 237 Long Line.
London SEl 4PU. Telephone: Ot-407 0055.
Persona! Computers Ltd-.

220-226 Bishopsgate, London EC2.

Telephone-- 01-377 1200.

Planning Consultancy Ud..

46-47 Pall Mall, London SWlY 5JG.

Telephone: 01 '#39 8890.

Programs Unlimited Computer Centres,

35 Baker Street, London WIN 1 AE-
Telephone; 01-467 3351.

Spartex Micro,

3-16 Woburn Place. London WO 0|E.
Telephone: 01-033 1667.

Steiger Computers Ltd.,

Steiger House, North Circular Road,
StonebridgeFark London NWlO 7 QZ
Telephone: 01-96 16000.

Sumtock Bondain Ltd.,

263-269 City Road, London ECl V IJX.
Telephone; 01-250 0505,

Systems Plus Ltd.,

47 Berkeley Square, London Wj,

Telephone; 01-629 0065.

The Computer Terminal,

44 Cathedra] Place, London EC4M 7ED.
Telephone; 01-236 2337,

BERKSHIRE
By tech Limited,

Unit 57, Buttons Industrial Park, Earley. Reading
Berkshire RG7 |AZ Telephone; 073 4 61031,

Ca re Software Tech nol ogy Lim i ted .

61 London Street, Reading Berkshire RGl 4QA
Telephone; 0734 55521.

Micro Business Systems PLC.

119-120 High Street, Eton. Berkshire SL4 6AN.
Telephone; 07535 66171
Microsystems Centre (Slough) Ltd.

56 High Street. Slough. Berkshire SLI ]EZ
Telephone: 0753 76976/7.

Nofbain Micro Ltd-,

Norbam House, Boulton Road. Reading
Berkshire RG2 0LT. Telephone: 0734 752201.

BEDFORDSHIRE

SWWLtd.,.

Kelwell House, 75-79 Tavistock Street,

Bedford MK40 2RR. Telephone: 0234 4O601.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

Minicomputer Commercial Software Limited.

insrirdfttt iirtikrrs

Computer House. Thames Industrial Estate.
Marlon Bucks. SL7 3 TB, Telephone: 06234 7 10 11.
Rapid Recall Lid.

Rapid House, Denmark Street. High Wycombe.
Bucks HPll 2ER. Telephone: 0494 26271.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Cambridge Computer Store,
t Emmanuel Street, Cambridge CBl 1NE
Telephone: 0223 6533415.

GST Computer Systems Limited,

13 The Mall, Bar Hill, Cambridge CB3 SDZ
Telephone. 095 4 32061.

CHESHIRE

Micro Business Systems PLC.

The Genesis Centre. Garrett Field,

Birch wood Science Park, Warrington WAJ 7Bli
Telephone: 0925 322261.

Rapid Recall Ltd.,

23 High 51 neet. Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5 AS.
Telephone; O270 627505.

CO, DURHAM
Whcssoc Business Systems,

Brmkburn Road, Darlington, County Durham
DU 6DS. Tel ephone; 03 2 5 60 1 0 0.

DERBYSHIRE
Da vidson-Ric hards Ltd,.

Systems House. 29 Charnwood Street,

Derby DE] 2GU Telephone; 0332 383231.

Micro Business Systems PLC .

Wirksworth, Derbyshire DE4 4EZ
Telephone; 062-932 3120.

Midlectron Computer Systems and Terminals,
Midlectron Ltd.. Midlectron House.

Nottingham Road.Bdper DE5 l|Q.

Telephone: 077-332 6311.

DEVON

Devon Computers Ltd.,

The White House-. 39 Totnes Road.. Paignton.
Devon TQ4 5LATelephone; 0303 526303.

DORSET

South Coast Computers Ltd..

South Coast House, Wimbourne Road, Ferndown.
Dorset BH22 9NG. Telephone: 0202 893040.

ESSEX

Dataview Ltd .

Portreeves House, Easi Bay, Colchester,

Essex COl 2XB, Telephone: 0206 865335.

5TC Micros.

West Road, Harlow. Essex CM2U 2BP
Telephone: 0279 443421.

GREATER MANCHESTER
Cytek(UK) Ltd.,

Sandringham House. 9 Warwick Road..

Old Trafford, Manchester M 16 OQQ.

Tel ephone; 063-872 4o32.

Hamilton Rentals Limited.

Grove House. Skerton Road, OEd Trafford,
Manchester M 16 OWL Telephone: 06 L848 8338,
Marcos Computer Services Ltd..

269-271 Barlow Moor Road,
Chorlton-Cum-Hardy Manchester M2 1 2G|.

Tel ephone: 06 1 - 860 6600,

GREATER MERSEYSIDE
Rockliff Micro Computers Ltd.,

2 Rumford Street. Liverpool L2 8$Z
Telephone: 051-227 2568

HAMPSHIRE

Computerland (Spcrrings Computer Shops Ltd.J,
Spencer House, 12-14 Carlton Place,
Southampton SOL 2EA Telephone; 0703 395 71.
Quest International Computer Systems Ud.,
School Line. Chandlers Ford,

Hampshire 505 3YY Telephone: 04215 66321.

HERTFORDSHIRE
Tosco Business Centre,

Bessemer Road, Welwyn Garden City.

Herts. AL7 lHB. Telephone: 07073 39333.

HUMBERSIDE
Microwa re Computers Ltd ..

Priory House, L 133 Hessle High Road,

Hull HU4 oSB. Telephone: 0482 562107.

KENT

Bromley Computer Consultancy Ltd,.

417-421 Bromley Road, Bromley. Kent BRl 4PJ.
Telephone: 0I-697 8933.

M. W. Systems. I M. D. Wright Data Services Ltd.),
64 Burgate, Canterbury, Kent CTl 2H],

Telephone: 0227 69090.

LEICESTERSHIRE

Hogg Robinson Systems Ltd .

Pegasus House, 17 Burleys Way, Leicester LEI 3BH.
Telephone; 0533 50131,

MERSEYSIDE

Rockliff Micro Computers Ltd.,

2 Rumford Street, Liverpool L2 8SZ
Telephone; 05 1-2 27 2568.

MIDDLESEX

Cord Design Lid- (Sy tec Products Division}.

Victor House. Staines, MiddlesexTWl8 4DS.
Telephone: 0734 56601.

Ferrari Software Ltd..

683 Armadale Road, Feltham,

Middlesex T W 1 6 5 DA Telephone: 01 -75 1 5 795.
Hawke Electronics Limited.

Amotex House, 45 Hanwodh Road.
Sunbury-on-Thamcs. Middlesex TW16.5DA
Telephone: 01-979 7799,

Morse Computers,

Unit 9. Hampton Farm Industrial Estate,

Feltham, Middlesex TW13 6DB.

Telephone: 01-898 2772/9934.

Newbury Data Recording Limited,

Hawthorne Road. Staines. Middlesex TWIS 3&I.
Telephone; 0734 61 SCO.

NORFOLK

Anglia Computer Centre.

38 St. Benedicts Street. Norwich,

Norfolk NR2 4 AB. Telephone: 0603 667032/3/4.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Computer Services Midlands (Sales) Ltd.,

Dunlop India House. Abbeyheld Road,

Lenton Industrial Estate West.

Nottingham NG7 2SZ Telephone: 06O2 866366.

OXFORDSHIRE
Oxford Data Systems,

29 Pou nd Way Cowley Cent re, O xfprd 0X4 3 X X.
Telephone: 0865 717720,

Zygal Dynamics PLC.,

Zygal House. Telford Road, Bicester.

Oxon 0X6 OXB Telephone: 0869 253361.

SHROPSHIRE

Jenfech Services Lid..

4-5 Victorian Arcade, Mardol, Shrewsbury,
Shrops h i re S Y llTS. Tel ephone; 0743 5 73 4 5 .
SURREY
C51 Ltd,

AYe/er drfr/rfs

Stanhope Road, Camberlcy, Surrey GUIS 3 PS.
Telephone: 0276 62282.

Key Computer Centres,

Enterprise House, Terrace Road,
Wallon-on-Thames, Surrey KTI2 2 SLY
Telephone; 09322 42777
Microfacilities Ltd.,

7-9 Church Road, Egham. Surrey TW20 9QL
Telephone: 0784 31333,

Novus Systems Technology Limited.

Weymead House, Mill brook G nil d ford GU 1 3 YA
Telephone: 0403 69933.

SUSSEX

Amplicon Micro Systems Ltd.,

Richmond Road. Brighton. East Sussex BN2 3RL.
Telephone: 0273 608331.

Bartholomews Business Systems Ltd..
fjJrMaijEg: flyjrff jffPiinif Slrflpilif n
Portheld. Chichester. Sussex POl9 2NT.
Telephone: 0243 775 lEI.

South East Computers Ud.

Unit 2, Ca&tleham Road, Castleham Road
Industrial Estate, Hastings, Sussex TN38 9NR.
Telephone: 04 24 426844,

TYNE AND WEAR

Key Computer Services Limited.

28 Osborne Road, jesmond, Newcastle NE2 1 A}.
Telephone: 063 2 0 15 157.

WEST MIDLANDS

Computer Services Midlands t$al») Ltd..

Refuge Assurance House. Sutton New Road
Erdingtca West Midlands B23 6QX-
Telephonc: 02 1 -3 82 4171.

Hamilton Rentals Limited,

Crawford House, 84 Caroline Street,
Birmingham B3 lUP Telephone; 021-236 3561.
Sumlock Bondain Ltd,

Carleton House, 268 Stratford Road. Shirley.
Solihull West Midlands B90 3 AD.

Telephone: 021-74 5 8616.

WILTSHIRE

Computacenter,

Theatre Square, Swindon, Wilts, SNtlGN.
Telephone: 0793 694997.

Why mark Computing

20 Milford Street, Salisbury Wilts. SPl 2AP

Telephone: 0722 331269.

YORKSHIRE
ComputerStyle Ltd.,

Park House, Park Square. Leeds LSl 2 PS.
Telephone: 0532 444337.

Microware Computers Ltd.,

Diamond House, Whitdock Street,

Leeds LS7 tAL Telephone: 0532 434377

WALES

SOUTH GLAMORGAN

Sigma Systems Ltd.,

266 North Road, Card iff CF4 3BL
Telephone; 0222 621414.

SCOTLAND
GRAMPIAN
Ham ilton Renta I s L i mi ted.

Unit 4, Howemoss Drive, Kirk.hill Industrial
Estate. Dyco. Aberdeen AB2 OGL.

Telephone: 0224 7708I6,

Pilgrim Business Machines ltd-,

30 Northfteld Place, Aberdeen ABl iXQ.
Telephone: 0224 645104.

STRATHCLYDE
Ayrshire Office Services Ud-,

22 Douglas Street. Kilmarnock KAl ]RB.
Telephone: 0563 24255.

Counterpoint Industries Limited.

7/8 Blythswood Court, AnderUon Cros* Centre,
Glasgow Gl 7PH. Telephone: 04 1-248 5544.
Micro Business Systems PLC.,

Burlington House. 183 Bath Street,

Glasgow G2 4HU Telephone: 041-248 5665.

WEST LOTHIAN

Micro-Centre (Complete Microsystems) Ltd. .

30 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH36JN.

Telephone: 03 1 -556 7354,

Pilgrim Business Machines Ltd..

Sp/rrifori in Srafinnd

28 Walker Street, Edinburgh EH3 7 HR.
Telephone: 03 1 -226 5528.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Systems PJustN.J.) Ltd.,

19 Glengormley Park, Newtownsbbey

Northern Ireland. Telephone: 023- 134 2636,

I To: D igi ta 1 Equ i p ment Co. Ltd., C u stom er I nfo rma trio n Cen tre.

Jays Close, Basingstoke, Hants. RG22 4DE.

Please send me details on the Rainbow 100+ and associated software
Name

Position-

Markel sjvrifl/fsts
tfhtrt an

sluuwr irj itafira.

t la

D

Company

Ad d ress

| Telephone No, |

• Circle No. 123

40

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

YOU HAVEN’T

SEEN ANYTHING

LIKE THIS ONA

COLOUR MONITOR

BEFORE

Aii RGB monitor from JVC offering a resolution of
370x470 pixels for less than £150?

We guarantee you won't see another bargain like that
in this or any other micro mag -or in any other supplier’s
showroom.

For we've managed to acquire the sole distribution
rights to these superb machines and we a re able to offer them
at an unbeatable price

There are two models available: medium resolution
(370x470 pixels) at£ 449,9m and high resolution ( 580x470
pixels! at £2 >9.95. (Both excluding VAT)

r f h e u n i ts 1 1 a ve a 1 4 " screen and a re s u i tab I e lb r t h e
BBC M io'o, Ly nx.Ortc Apple, and me >st other leading mien is.

They are robustly constructed in a handsome cream
rasing. And come with a full year's guarantee.

Delivery is good: your monitor should arrive
by courier service within ten days of our receiving your
order

You can order by filling in the coupon below and
posting to: Opus Supplies Ltd.. 158 Camberwell Road.
London SE5 0EE. Or by telephoning 01-701 8668 quoting
your credit card number Or, of course, you can buy in person
at our showroom between Pam 6pm Monday Friday,

9 am 1 30 pm Saturday

MCI DM Ki ll KKMI-

1*0 J ! Mill iimi Hcsuhmnii

I MU 1 lli^li N^soluikin

ri:n >].i nox

COx i7(l. Mxel*

Srttlx iTtirisUs

c.tq

i e

1 1"

st \>m

Jil 1 a HH-. so 0011/

220 . 1 \ 0 \: in <imi-/.

H.ILT

NkiKLiimni JiS C

Minimum 10 Sk\

Mil Minium ii.SU

V II ]| lit! AMI \\ II vil!

6MI V/,

IOMI 1/

niM'i. vi

MspohiifiicuTfitn
is Hues

i diiinieicTH b\
iS i.ru->

s.o't me ii

(Mv.tnun

n ilmm

rxin n :'vii)Ko

R.O.H. A n:i Ionite

I II lopul

HU 11 Aiu|o^lK :

TJ'I. Iiijntl

svm:

Sqi.ti Jit-SyrK- on K.U.Il

I’fjsftH'fi *r Ncjtiiiw

U witivvor

i-nti-kx \i.ct >\TiiOi.s

i )n olfxw icrli ;mil
hn^lum-ss o inirnl

< >n oltsw iii'h ,iihI
hri^hrnt.iiMXiEit n A

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1884

Opus Supplies lad.. IsH CamlxTwell Road, London SIC n ia;.
Please send me Medium Rcsnluiit m Colour Mon iior(s) at

A 149,95 each (ex. VAT).

I ligh Resolution G)ltiurMnni'tc)r(s) ai
,U2fr9Se itch lex. VA T).

Connection leadt.s) ai.i6.UU each.

I understand carriage per monitor will ct >st an extra X7.00.

{ \ B A Medium Resolution Monitor inehidiiigYAT, lead, and
carriage a >sis A LH7.56, A i I igh Kcsokuit >n Me mitt >r Including VAT
lead, and carriage costs A 2 7*). VJ.J

I end? vse a cheque lor A .Or please dehit my credit card

ace< Hint with die amount < >1 A My Access Barclay card

(please lick) no, is

Please state the make of your computer

Name .

Address

L

Telephone:

( )pus Supplies Lai

• Circle No. 124

41

am

LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE

NEC ADVANCED

PERSONAL

COMPUTER

16 bit 8086 128K Ram
2.4Mb Disk Storage
CP/M86- MS DOS
Green Screen £1985

Colour Display £2595

apricot

256K
from

£1495 Jg§jt

LCC SPECIAL BUNDLE.

NEC APC- R.R.P. £1985

NEC Dot Matrix Printer R.R.P. £ 395
Benchmark WP Software R.R.P. £ 31 1
Cables .R.R.P. £ 30

£2721

you pay
you save

£1985
£ 736

SIRIUS 1

1 .2 Mb Disk Storage £2195
2.4 Mb Disk Storage £2895
1 0. Mb Disk Storage £3995

B^coronci pc

IBM PC COMPATIBLE

*256K RAM *Twin Floppy Disk Drives
*Big 9" Screens ^Serial & Parallel Ports
^Concurrent CP/M. multimate (Wangwriter)
Word processing software £2295

New TANDY
Model 4

CP/M 3.0* Optional extra
64K-128K RAM

from £1299

Hard Disk for IBM PC,
Sirius, QX10 NEC
10 Mb £1545|

15 Mb £1695
20 Mb £1995 1
20 Mb Tape
Streamer £1495

TELE-VIDEO

806/816

the Multi User
Computer System

LAP PORTABLES

EPSON
HX20

Portable with built-
in printer

from £402

TANDY 100

Portable with built-in
4 Programmes: Word Processor,
address book, scheduler, and
communications. Large 40x8 char
line display
£433

NEC PC 8201 16K RAM
EXPANDABLE to 96K

Lap Portable with 8 built in programmes.
Word Processor. Investment Portfolio.
Loan Evaluator. Appointment-Schedule.
Bar Code Reader. Calculator. Tank &
Snake Game. Music Generator.

Large 40 x 8 LCD Display
Built-in Serial. Parallel &

Bar Code Reader Ports. £475

Free 12" monitor with

9 SCREEN ZORBA

Portable

full 80 x 24
display 800K disc
storage
Free software
worth 2800
£1395

FLOWRITER
RP 1600
60 CPS

Fast and reliable
8K buffer

£1600

TEC F10
40 CPS_

Diablo 620
compatible
Japanese reliability £1350

Star Printers

n Delta 10-160 CPS serial &
parallel interfaces built-in
8K buffer £359
Gemini 10X 120CPS.
Parallel interface £219

♦Epson compatible control codes.

TOSHIBA
P1350

24 Needles - high speed
drafts 190 CPS Letter Perfect
Printing 100 CPS Addressable Pin
Graphics £1130 Options.

Tractor £87: Sheet feeder £520

EPSON
FX80/100
OCPS

3 TRAY AUTO
SHEET FEEDER

For originals,
copies and envelopes.

£695

SUITABLE FOR MOST DAISY PRINTERS

SINGLE

SHEET

£375

New JUKI 6100
Daisywheel 18 CPS

Bi directional
Adler

daisywheels,

Diablo 630 '
protocols £399

SENDATA 800 SERIES
ACOUSTIC COUPLER
£220

Buzz Box

Direct Connect Modem

£70

44

All prices are Exclusive of VAT and Delivery. Dealer Enquiries invited on all Products.

Large range of CPM Software available. Please phone for catalogue & price list
Demonstrations on all models ,

43 Grafton Way, London W1P 5 LA (Opposite Maples)

Opening Hours: 10-7 Mon-Fri. 12-4 Sat.

01-387 4455 (4 lines) Telephone Answering Service After Office Hours Telex: 8953742

• Circle No. 103

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

szv on

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aipd pASoddo sh (saulviuad jqjinoqXjOAA upp SuiSimip
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pep Xq posrveo sjijdo.nsiqxx) 3tp jo [njpuitu jAvYj

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[]1? ASHED UEA qSip 13 UO sSupEOA AAlSEiqE AS HEAD J]

sjeaX >pEq n ias iq -aSe jAinduioD
Aljl ()]U 1 Allied UI 03 1? }int( UEA sqsip Xddc>[] ‘SpJOAOJ
JO ) ALUqED §UI]IJ AlAjdlUOA 13 OJ JOIJU03 >pO}S S £ AU1[ UOtJAtl
-paid 13 luojj SinqiXiAAA Alois 01 XiqiqE jpip qq \ \

YOU HAVEN’T

SEEN ANYTHING
LIKE THIS ONA
COLOUR MONITOR
BEFORE

Aa RGB monitor from JVC offering a resolution of
370x 470 pixels for less than XI .50?

\Ve guarantee you won’t see another bargain like tliat
in this or any other micro mag -or in any other supplier's
showroom.

For we've managed to acquire the sole distribution
rights to these superb machines and we a re able to offer them
at an unbeatable price*

There are two models available: medium resolution
( .370 \. on pixels) aE.kl49.95i and high resolution (580x470
pixels] at £229.95, (Both excluding VAT)

The units have a 1 4 "screen and arc suitable for the
BBC Micro. Lynx t Oric\ Apple, and most < >thcr leading mien >s.

They are robustly constructed in u handsome cream
casing. And come with a full year’s guarantee.

Delivery is good; your monitor should arrive
by courier service within ten days of our receiving your
order;

You am order by tilling in the coupon below and
posting to; Opus Supplies Ltd., 158 Camberwell Road,
London SE5 0EE, Or by telephoning 01 701 8668 quoting
your credit card number Or, of course, you can buy in person
at our showroom between 9am 6pm Monday Friday
9am E.30pm Saturday.

MODKI. liia K»J V< |

tynj 1 Medium Hex vlu turn

l.^iiJ J 1 ti^li Hexiluium

ttl-N )U TIUN

Hh iTO i*ixv\fi

swi* r<u j i\ds

olO

3-P

t c

si m\

Jill J HIV. -ifl <>011/

jjo j.iav. simuhiz.

i: nr

Minimum 1 1 3.

M^mmnm 1 i.1k\

Minimum E 4 )Xkv

M.mnmiu JJ Sk\

M03.0 [ONI) VYIOTH

[Al 11/

UMUs

3 JESI’LAY

sii l h.u.u lers by

JS iitus

so chnrjicrtTshy
js Hues

normal

o.osmm

0.1 (mm

i\n t vioi-p

IO i k .Mv.ilnjjiie
n l, rtipc.it

It till AiuiUj^ne

I I I, Input

sync

Sep;if:ite Syne tin k.Ci H
l\ iMlive i »r XegiiliVe

Se|n;ir;ue Syneun R,( 1.1)
h Xfiiivi’iir Nt'^mivv

i:\ri;a\\3.eoxii{oj.s

t .hi l hit svvifeb :i,m!
hn^hmessovnin >1

Uni >1) jiwiteh .md
hri^hnu’ss otninil

I Ti ) C )pus Supplies I ad., 1 58 t lamherwcll Ki lad, Londt m SK 5 ( )KK.

Please send me . Medium Resolution Colour Monik >r(s) at

XI 49.95 each (ex, VAT).

lli^h Resolution Colour Moltiror(s) at
X2 29.95 -.each (ex, VAT).

Com acci i t >n Ic; kKs ) a i sM 00 each .

I understand carriage per mt aiitor will a ist an extra £74)0.
t \ B. A Mediion Resolution Monitor including VAT, lead, and
carnage costs XI 87.59, A \ ligh Resolution Monitor including VA'L
lead, and carnage a jsts £279.594

I enet( )Sc a cheque for X Or please debit my credit card

acct Mint with live amount < >f X My Access Barclaveard

(please tick) no. is

Please .state the make of your computer

Name

Address

Tclepht >ne:

Opus Supplies Lid.

7! J

• Circle No. 124

PRACTICAL COMPUTI NG February 1984

41

And cadi and every one is subjected to analogue
and digital tests before leaving the factory.

Which is why we can confidently guarantee them
for life.

Of course, we’re not trying to suggest that every
single one of our rivals’ disks are faulty

But who wants to play Russian roulette with a
business?

If you would like to know more about 3M floppy
disks or where your closest distributor is, give us a ring
at 3M on Bracknell (0344) 58502.

LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE

NEC ADVANCED

PERSONAL

COMPUTER

16 bit 8086 128K Ram
2.4Mb Disk Storage
CP/M86- MS DOS
Green Screen £1985

Colour Display £2595

apricot

256K
from

£1495

LCC SPECIAL BUNDLE.

NEC APC - R.R.P. El 985

NEC Dot Matrix Printer R.R.P. E 395
Benchmark WP Software R.R.P. E 31 1
Cables .R.R.P. E 30

£2721

you pay
you save

£1985
£ 736

SIRIUS 1

1 .2 Mb Disk Storage £2195
2.4 Mb Disk Storage £2895
1 0. Mb Disk Storage £3995

HOcoronci pc

IBM PC COMPATIBLE

*256K RAM *Twin Floppy Disk Drives
*Big 9" Screens ^Serial & Parallel Ports
^Concurrent CP/M, multimate (Wangwriter)
Word processing software £2295

New TANDY
Model 4

CP/M 3.0* Optional extra
64K-128K RAM

from £1299

Hard Disk for IBM PC,

Sirius, QX10 NEC

10 Mb £1545i
15 Mb £1695
20 Mb £1995 1

20 Mb Tape
Streamer £1495

TELE-VIDEO

806/816

the Multi User
Computer System

LAP PORTABLES

EPSON

HX20

Portable with built -
in printer

from £402

TANDY 100

Portable with built-in
4 Programmes: Word Processor,
address book, scheduler, and
communications. Large 40x8 char
line display
£433

NEC PC 8201 16K RAM
EXPANDABLE to 96K

Lap Portable with 8 built in programmes.
Word Processor. Investment Portfolio.
Loan Evaluator. Appointment/Schedule.
Bar Code Reader. Calculator, Tank &
Snake Game. Music Generator.

Large 40 x 8 LCD Display
Built-in Serial. Parallel &

Bar Code Reader Ports. £47 5

Free 12" monitor with

9 SCREEN ZORBA

Portable

, full 80 x 24

display 800K disc
'-•v storage

Free software
worth 2800
£1395

FLOWRITER
RP 1600
60 CPS

Fast and reliable
8K buffer

£1600

TEC F10
40 CPS

Diablo 620
compatible
Japanese reliability £1350

Star Printers

n Delta 10-160 CPS serial &
»> parallel interfaces built-in
8K buffer £359
Gemini 10X 120CPS.
Parallel interface £219

*Epson compatible control codes.

3in0ne

TOSHIBA
P1350

24 Needles - high speed
drafts 190 CPS Letter Perfect
Printing 100 CPS Addressable Pm
Graphics £1130 Options.

Tractor £87: Sheet feeder £520

EPSON
FX80/100
OCRS

New JUKI 6100
Daisywheel 18 CPS

Bi directional
Adler

daisywheels _

Diablo 630 '
protocols £399

SINGLE

SHEET

SENDATA 800 SERIES
ACOUSTIC COUPLER
£220

£375

Buzz Box

Direct Connect Modem

£70

3 TRAY AUTO
SHEET FEEDER

For originals,
copies and envelopes.

£695

SUITABLE FOR MOST DAISY PRINTERS

All prices are Exclusive of VAT and Delivery. Dealer Enquiries invited on all Products.
Large range of CPM Software available. Please phone for catalogue & price list
Demonstrations on all models.

43 Grafton Way, London W1P 5LA (Opposite Maples)

Opening Hours: 10-7 Mon-Fri. 12-4 Sat.

01-387 4455 (4 lines) Telephone Answering Service After Office Hours Telex: 8953742

44

• Circle No. 103

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

The right software
for your application from

dapple

Authorised Dealer
Service Centre
System Consultancy

COMPUTECH FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING PACKAGES
Payroll £375

Invoicing and Stock Recording £295

Sales, Purchases and General Ledgers each £295

Also costing and group consolidation

COMPUTECH UTILITIES DISK

for reliable error checking copying,

diskette scan, interpret and patch, etc

VisiCalc. Applewriter and other Apple software (Prices on request)

COMPUTECH CHAIN MAIL

A mailing merging document processor which may
be used with text files, including random files and
Applewriter 1.1 binary files

COMPUTECH GRAPHICS DISK

for printing Apple pictures and graphs on Epson and
Microline (free with printers purchased from Computech)£30

COMPUTECH TERMINAL UTILITIES

Apple to Apple and Apple to mainframe

from £130

caMPUTECH hard ware... just

B^ll 1^1 IT 11^ switches and jumpers provide hardware

I^IUU II II I VII I VI UUi options without soldering

DIPLOMAT VIDEO DIGITISER
store a frame from video camera in a fiftieth of a
a second, process and print — for Apple II
m for APPLE He, including 64K Extended 80 Column Card
DIPLOMAT PARALLEL Interface
DIPLOMAT SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS Interface
DIPLOMAT RAM 16 Memory Expansion
DIPLOMAT CLOCK/CALENDAR

LOWER CASE Character Generator with Applewriter 1.1
enhancements

MICROMUX Data Exchange (Max 16 Ports)

MATRIX PRINTERS, Microline and Epson with
graphics and up to 200 ops
MICROLINE Optional Character Generator
DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS, Olympia, Qume, Ricoh

from

£50

£850

from

from

£222

£15

£798

Prices exclude VAT, Carriage and Packing
r For full details phone for data sheets and a FREE demonstration

coiwspur

168 Finchley Road, London NW3 6 HP. Tel: 01-794 0202

Please send me
details of the ACT Sirius 1

W? Name:.
W Position:
* Company:
, Address:_

OVER 20,000 PEOPLE
CAN’T BE WRONG

ACT SIRIUS 1

<£2095

£2,895

Powerful 1.2Mb data storage with 128K
RAM and including two of the industry
standard operating systems at 16-bit level,
CP/M-86 and MS-DOS. PLUS Basic 86.

2.4Mb data storage with a big 256K RAM for
the really demanding business applications.
Includes CP/M-86, MS-DOS and Basic 86.

Above are two very good reasons why more people have bought the ACT Sirius 1 than any
other 16-bit microcomputer in the U.K. Here are a few more:

ACT Sirius 1 is a superb user-friendly machine incorporating a comprehensive 'soft' keyboard,
a 12 high resolution screen for crisp, clear definition and a wide range of memory options
including a 10Mbyte Winchester version and a choice of three plug-in expansion boards
The range of available software is simply unrivalled in the personal computer field.

Over 1,000 software packages now exist to provide complete solutions to
the needs of large and small businesses alike.

And of course the ACT Sirius 1 is backed by the strength and resources of ACT. The Pulsar
range of true 16-bit software for accounting, planning and word processing; ACT Training
Centres open to all; nationwide field service; a full range of printers and consumables.
And, the most complete and professional dealer network in the U.K.

Over 20,000 people are rightly convinced that the ACT Sirius 1 is the best machine

of its kind in the country.

CAN YOU REALLY AFFORD TO BE WRONG? _

ACT SIRIUS 1,THE UK’S BEST Ci

SELLING 16-BIT f !

MICROCOMPUTER.

'Circle No. 127

P C. FEB.

ACT (UK) Limited

Shenstone House,

Dudley Road, Halesowen, West Midlands 863 3NT
Telephone: 021-501 2284
Telex: 337007

Wf: 7 .

"

PC 2/10

Are you the QX-10 that undertakes
financial modelling, stock control,
word processing, information analysis,

book-keeping...? ■■

With over 20 years of experience in
producing high quality printers, Epson have
now perfected a fully integrated desktop
computer. All tlmevidence has gone to prove
that the QX-10 is capable of performing all
the tasks you will ever require of it, quickly
and efficiently.

Installation of the QX-10 can be carried
out with the minimum of interruption, and with
its easily understandable keyboard, it is
simplicity itself to operate.

Having such a diverse range of software
packages available such as database from
Pearl and office productivity and accountancy
from Peachtree with C P/M and multifont
BASIC as standard, the QX-10 can supply all
the answers whatever your business.

Just look at what's on offer: a big memory
- 192k upgradable to 256k RAM and all the
graphics you'll ever need - and high
resolution graphics at that.

The ability to communicate easily with
other machines, including our own HX-20 and

"I am"

Extraordinary product.
Exceptional quality.

Epson (UK) Limited, Freepost,
Wembley, Middlesex HAS 6BR.
Sales Enquiries: Freefone EPSON.
General Enquiries: 01-902 8892.
Telex: 8314169.

Circle No. 128

I n

l_l I would like a demonstration of the QX-10.

I □ Please ask my Epson dealer to contact me.

I Name

r Position

Company

I Address

the advantage of using our fine range of
printers, make the QX-10 a totally versatile
system at a price you'll find impossible
to equal - £1735 plus VAT.

If you re looking at micros, look
at the QX-10.

The system with all the answers.

PCBulletin: news

PC XT/370

VHE xt/ 370 mainframe-on-a-
desk version of the IBM PC —
see the report in our January
issue, page 29 — has been
announced by IBM U.K. It
offers three modes of op-
eration. First, it is a standard
XT Personal Computer with
1 0Mbyte of hard-disc storage*
Second, it emulates an IBM
3277 Model 2 display terminal
connected to a mainframe.
Third, it runs under the
new Virtual Machine/
Personal Computer operating

IBMulators

more computer manufacturers
are following the fashion of
offering IBM compatibility.
Among the latest are ITT,
Tele video and Olivetti.

ITT will be launching the
Xtra, with an Intel 8088 CPU,
128K of RAM, a 10Mbyte hard
disc and one floppy — an IBM
PC XT look-alike. Tclevideo’s
1605 will be an IBM PC
compatible micro, and is
expected to be launched in the
U.S. early in 1984.

Olivetti will be making its
own version of the Corona PC
look-alike for sale outside the
U.S. Like Texas Instruments
with the Professional, and
Tandy with the Model 2000,
Olivetti now appreciates that it
has no choice but to offer IBM
PC emulation. The long-term
future of the Z-8000 based M-20
is presumably unaffected, as
Olivetti has an 8086 card for it.

system, which enables it to run
many programs for the
IBM mainframe Virtual
Machine/Conversational Mon-
itor System on a desk-top
computer.

The XT/370 carries three
extra cards which carry a
standard Motorola 68000 chip,
and two customised IBM chips
— one based on the 68000,
another on the Intel 8087. The
second card carries 512K of
extra RAM, The third provides
the coaxial communications

suite of Perfect software and a
graphics package, in all worth
£750, plus a little heart logo on
the front which features in the
new advertising campaign.
Contact Icarus Computer
Systems, Deane House, 27
Greewood Place, London NWS
INN. Telephone: 01-485 5574.

PC back-up

alloy has introduced a nine-
Li ack magnetic tape sub-system
for the IBM PC, The ITS-PC
offers 42Mbyte of back-up
storage or, more interestingly,
allows data lo be interchanged

Columbia PC
relaunch

this well known IBMulator
has been relaunched in the U.K.
by Icarus. Its Compaq standard
of IBM compatibility has made
it the leading look-alike on the
U.K. market in the continued
absence of the Compaq
transportable.

The major change is that it is
now supplied with an amber
monitor, which is preferred in
many European countries*
Other new features are the free

which are needed for terminal
operation.

The XT/370 will be
manufactured in Greenock,
Scotland, for a September 1984
launch in the U.K. The price is a
mere £8,228 plus VAT, plus
£919 for a VM/PC software
licence. When the IBM 370
mainframe was current ii
usually cost around LI million.

Contact IBM United
Kingdom Ltd, PO Box 41,
Norih Harbour, Baltic House,
Portsmouth P06 3AU.

Perex is also now' supplying a
tape back-up system for the XT,
called the Pc rid at a 45 10/ IBM.
Contact Perex at Arkwright
Road, Reading, Berkshire RG2
0EA. Telephone: (0734)
751054.

between a PC and a mainframe.
For this you also need Alloy's
PC-Tip tape-interchange
program.

Alloy's other products are
PC-Stor, which is a hard disc
with built-in tape cartridge for
back-up, and PC- Back up,
which is a separate tape
cartridge for backing up your
PC XT.

Contact Alloy at Cotteswold
House, Gloucester Street,
Cirencester, Gloucestershire
GL2 2DQ. Telephone: (0285)
68709.

Fun and
games

THE ibm pc is already starting to
monopolise the professional/
executive software scene with
products like Lotus 1-2-3,
Multi mate, Oz and Expert-
Ease. But now about 40 percent
of America's best-selling games,
as listed by Softsel, already
run on the IBM PC. For
comparison, over 80 percent
run on the Atari micros, over 70
percent on the Apple, while
about 60 percent run on the
Commodore 64.

The top 20 includes 10 games
that run on the IBM PC,
including Zork 1, II and 111,
Frogger, Temple of Apshai,
Deadline, Planetfall, Miner
2049er, Enchanter, Serpentine
and Witness, plus the famous
Microsoft Flight Simulator.

With up to 1,000,000 PCjrs
lo be sold in 1984, the current
flood of IBM games will
become a torrent. This is
particularly good news for a
small British company whoose
Advance computer is currently
being manufactured by
Ferranti, and which promises to
provide IBM PC compatibility
for only £400 — see our October
1983 issue.

Software

shorts

• ACT has announced its
Micro mail package, reviewed
in the November issue of
Practical Computing , as
Micromail Blue for the IBM
PC. Telephone: 021-454
8585.

• Prospero Software has a
new Pascal compiler for the
8086 family of chips. See our
June 1983 issue for a review
of Pro Pascal on eight bits,
as the 16-bit version is said to
be fully compatible.
Telephone: 01-785 6848,

• Sky Software is not a new
company, just a new name
for what was Comsoft. Its
new range of Blue Sky
packages are Skymaster,
Skymail, Skycost and

Sky build. They run under the
Skymos multi-user operating
system on IBM PCs linked
using PC-Net. Telephone:
(0527) 36299.

Inner Loop software of
Los Angeles has launched
Scrollmate, which provides
up and down scrolling of up
to 14 screenfuls of text under
MS-DOS. Telephone: (Area
code 213) 822-2800.

Graphic Communications
of Massachusetts has
produced a suite of 24
programs to simplify the
design of presentation
graphics on the IBM PC and
XT, Pete & Pam is importing
it. Telephone: 01-677 7631.

GCS Communications has
extended its range of
products to include P-Cox, a
3270 coaxial interface for the
PC and its look-alikes. It
costs £900, Telephone:

01-898 2121.

Sophco of Boulder,
Colorado, has introduced
Protec, a $250 master-menu
and security-control program
for the PC and XT, It not
only shuts out unauthorised
users but prevents passing
humourists from typing
commands like Format C: on
the XT, Telephone: (Area
Code 303) 444-1542.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

49

AFTER INTENSE industry speculation, IBM
finally launched the "Peanut” micro-
computer — now called the Junior or
PCjr — in the U.S. on November 1 last
year* One month later some 1 ,000 machines
were delivered to dealers for demonstration
purposes. Sales were not scheduled to begin
until January — after the Christmas rush
on which so many micro companies have
come to depend.

The timing of the announcement was
presumably to encourage those considering
a micro to wait until after Christmas,
instead of buying another model in
December. The only two surprises were
the name, and the infra-red keyboard
connection*

Whether you like the name or not, it is
accurate, although some Americans are
already calling it the "Pee Wee”, to
distinguish it from the "Pee Cee”, The
infra-red keyboard connection is a logical
part of the design* The deskless home user
wants to relax in an armchair, not be cabled
to the system box.

The thinking behind the PCjr is
interesting. IBM's problems with the PC
are twofold. First, it is too successful;
second, it is too expensive for Everyman,
even in America* Most home buyers of the
PC and XT — and there are many — have
some business justification for their
purchase. People who don’t generally
cannot afford it. Schools, colleges and even
some corporations have also found the
price of the PC a disincentive: just think

IBM PCjr

Jack Schofield takes a hard look at the spec of the
“Peanut” and assesses how it will fare against the
established home-micro competition.

about the cosl of buying them by the
thousand.

Of course, IBM could not solve the
second problem by reducing the price of the
PC again. That would merely exacerbate
the first problem. It can already sell PCs
and XTs faster than it can make them.
And, of course, reducing the price of the
PC would mean smaller profits.

The PC is over-specified for the
home /school market, and the PCjr offered
the chance to make a more suitable
machine. The easy way would have been to
make the new machine largely incompatible
with the previous models, like Commodore
with the Vic-20. However, this did not
mesh with IBM’s overall strategy of taking
over the entire microcomputer industry
with a string of PC products from the top
to the bottom of the range.

It was far better, both for IBM and for
the user, to make the jr, as far as possible, a

PC-compatible machine. The problem then
was that while the PCjr had to be good
enough to take advantage of the huge
software market created by the PC itself, it
also had to be not too good, or it would
take sales from the more profitable elder
brother*

IBM's solution was to retain the Intel
8088 CPU, the PC-DOS operating system
and disc format, and fundamentally the
same Microsoft Basic, so as to largely
retain software compatibility* This enables
the PCjr to be offered in large volumes by
IBM’s corporate sales force, either for use
as a cheap work station or for executives to
use at home.

To make the system more suitable for
the home/education market, IBM added
colour graphics as standard, cartridge slots,
joystick ports, and expanded the PC's
single-tone sound to three channels. These
decisions offer an interesting contrast with

50

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

PCBulletin: preview sags

The PCjr is a downgraded model, and there are 21 fewer keys than on the PC.

Acorn, which deliberately offers less rather
than more in all these areas in order to
make the Electron a conspicuously inferior
machine compared to the BBC Micro.

IBM has ensured that the Junior's
weaknesses are in areas where the home/
school user does not suffer too much, but
where the business buyer is affected. So it
has an inferior keyboard and, for now at
least, only one disc drive. The PCjr does
not have the same internal expansion
system as the PC, so business users will not
be able to add large quantities of RAM,
clock/calendar cards, etc. And while the
text display is good, it is not of the
exceptionally high quality of the IBM PC.

Not crippled

However, as the keyboard is detached
from the main unit, no doubt third parties
will offer replacement keyboards and add-
on disc drives sooner rather than later, and
internal expansion is possible. So though
the PCjr may have had one hand tied
behind its back, unlike the Electron it has
not been deliberately crippled.

The 62- key cordless keyboard is powered
by four AA batteries, and weighs 25
ounces. It communicates by infra-red
signals with the main unit at distances oi up
to 20 feet, as long as it is within view. An
optional 6ft. adaptor cord is required if
more than one PCjr is to be used in the
same room .

As the PCjr keyboard has 2! fewer keys
than the PC model, something has had to
give. For a start, the 10 dedicated function
keys are missing, though as on the
Electron the functions can still be used by
pressing the function key and the number
keys. The separate numeric keypad has
gone too, though there are now four cursor
control keys arranged in a neat cross. The
spurious Backslash key — sited between the

left Shift key and Z on the PC — has also
disappeared, just when wc were learning to
accept it as the new standard and Elan had
carefully added it to its new micro.

For software compatibility, the PCjr
keyboard can produce all the codes
produced by the standard PC model,
though in some cases the key combinations
required are less convenient. Still, that is
not too bad a limitation. The keyboard has
two other distinguishing features: rubber
key caps and no labels, as the key labelling
is on the keyboard itself. The layout can be
customised by reprogramming any of the
keys and adding a keyboard overlay.

The rubberised key caps are squishy but
apparently not hard to type on for limited
periods. In this respect the keyboard is the
worst part of the PCjr. It is regrettable that
what will be, when it arrives, one of the
most expensive home/education micros
on the market should have a keyboard that
is inferior to cheaper rivals.

The PCjr comes in two models: an entry-
level system, and a full-specification model
with a built-in disc drive. The system box
measures about Min. long by 1 1 in. deep by
4in. high. Both models have the same
detached keyboard, separate power
transformer, a Guide to Operations manual
and Hands-On Basic booklet.

The system box has two cartridge slots on
the front, plus ports for a cassette recorder,
two joysticks, external amplifier and
speaker, a keyboard cable, a light-pen and
various video displays. There is one spare
socket. Unfortunately these ports all seem
to be non-standard designs. 1 BM evidently
expects people to pay outrageous prices like
$30 for a TV-set connector or cassette-
tape adaptor cable. Some schools and
corporations will probably shell out, but
enthusiasts will rapidly find cheaper
alternatives.

Both models have 64K of ROM. It

includes seif-test diagnostics, as do the
Atari XL micros, and a program called
Keyboard Adventure which uses graphics
and sound to introduce the keyboard. The
entry-level model has 64K of RAM and
produces a standard 40-column display on
a TV set, composite video or RGB colour
monitor. In addition to 320-by-200 pixel
resolution in four colours, and 640-by-2Q0
pixels in two colours — both of which are
offered by the standard IBM PC with
colour-graphics card — the entry-level
PCjr also offers a 16-colour mode with
J60-by-200 pixel resolution.

The other PCjr has 128K or RAM, with
no room for more inside* and a 360K half-
height 5.25in. floppy-disc drive that uses
the same PC-DGS operating system and
format as the standard PC. It has better
graphics too, and can display 80 characters
per line.

OS costs extra

The enhanced model comes with two
discs. The first, Exploring the PCjr, is a
tutorial which includes system use and
simple programming. Your IBM PCjr
contains sample programs for home use
including a word processor, address file,
etc. This model costs $ 1 ,269, but you need
to spend $65 more for the PC-DOS 2.1
operating system.

There is another catch. With both
models the sound, graphics and some
peripherals are fully supported only by a
plug-in cartridge Basic, for which IBM
charges an extra $75, It is tempting to
complain about charging extra for a Basic
language cartridge, and it did not win Atari
friends for the 400. However, the
Commodore 64 has proved successful in
spite of the fact that the hardware is
virtually unsupported by the Basic. At least
IBM will probably supply a useful extended
Basic, a feat which seems to be beyond
Commodore.

The entry-level PCjr can be upgraded by
adding a disc drive and a 64K expansion,
mainly used for colour graphics. With the
PC, video RAM is held on a separate card,
but with both models of the PCjr it comes
out of main memory. Both models can be
upgraded by adding a modem — in the
U.S. at least — and serial or parallel printer
connections.

The PCjr Basic cartridge is a superset of
the original Microsoft Basic. It supports the
enhanced graphics and sound capabilities,
the light-pens, the three-voice sound and
asynchronous communications. As sudrit
is more a necessity than an option.

The IBM PC Compact Printer is a 50cps
thermal unit which uses single-sheet,
fanfold or rolls of thermal paper. It costs
$175. The IBM PC Color Printer prints in
up to eight colours. It offers 2Q0cps in draft
mode, lIOcps in correspondence mode,
and 35cps in letter-quality mode. It can use
single-sheet, fanfold and rolls of paper up
to almost 15in. wide and costs $1 ,995. Both

i continued on next page/

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

51

PCBulletin: preview*

(continued from previous page)

printers can be used with all versions of the
PC, right up to the XT/370 “desk-top
mainframe”.

Three groups of programs were launched
with the PCjr* There are two new programs
intended for all models of the PC. The first
of these, the Personal Communications
Manager, provides access to other
computers via the telephone lines and thus
to Dow Jones and The Source, m the ITS.
The second is the Fixed Disk Organiser
program — not much use with the PCjr.

The second group comprises updated
versions of seven programs for all models
of the PC. They are Casino Games,
Strategy Games, Easy Writer PFS:FiIe,
PFS: Report, Basic Program Development
System and Time Manager* In all some 30
of the programs in IBM’s own PC line-up
are said to run on the enhanced PCjr.

The third group comprises new IBM-
badge cartridges and disc-based programs
for home and educational use. They
include Homevvord, Home Budget Jr and
Turtle Power. Home word is a simple
picture- based word processor from the
Apple/Atari software house Sierra On-
line. Home Budget Jr is from the Software
Publishing Corporation. Turtle Power is
a turtle-graphics program from The
Learning Company, though IBM already
has a Logo* Games on cartridge include
Mouser, Mineshaft and Crossfire.

Software flood

Given the vast number of software
houses producing programs for the IBM
PC, other third-party software will
undoubtedly Hood the market. There is
already a PCjr magazine.

The entry-level system looks a bad buy*
In the sound and graphics departments it
offers no advance over the Atari 800XL
while it is more than twice the price. The
keyboard seems grossly inferior, and the
entry-level PCjr is at a major disadvantage
when it comes to software. The Atari has
hundreds of good programs available,
while initially this model of the PCjr has
only a handful. After the unveiling of the
PCjr, Atari announced a price increase —
from after Christmas — on its range.

The Commodore 64 has similarly little to
fear from the entry-level PCjr. The
Commodore is a bit of a seven-stone
weakling in terms of its pathetic Basic and
cassette-tape software — are there more
than three good games? Nonetheless the
Commodore 64 hard ware looks much more
powerful* A PCjr plus Basic costs more
than a Commodore 64 plus disc drive: all-
in-all the Commodore is a far better buy.

The enhanced PCjr is a different basket
ol chips* While the price is si ill not going lo
worry Commodore, or Atari’s 1450XL
model with built-in disc drive, it should
certainly worry Apple. With 128K of
RAM, an 80-column screen and PC-DOS
2.1 the PCjr can rival any small micro on
the market thanks to being able to share

software with the IBM PC. The Basic,
graphics and sound are all superior to the
Apple lie, and the PCjr price is very
competitive.

At its launch, the Apple He without disc
drive had a list price of SI, 400 — just twice
as much as the entry-level PCjr, and more
than even the disc-based model. While the
Apple II still has more software, and more
good software, than any other micro, the
PC is catching up fast* The PCjr could well
tip the balance.

Further, the PCjr offers an upgrade
path, which the Apple lie conspicuously
tails to do. The PCjr is simply Ihe bottom
rung ol a ladder through which t he user can
progress via the I BM PC and XT right up lo
the XT/370. Not many individuals will go
all the way, but the facility certainly matters
to schools, colleges and corporations.

However, a glance at the sparsely-
populated Apple lie board suggests Apple
can slash the American price to make it
competitive and still make a comfortable
profit. In the U.K. the situation is more
uncertain. Here the competition is not
Apple but the superior Acorn BBC Micro.
Apple has basically ignored the home-imo-
business market well represented among
readers of this magazine — just try looking
for Apple advertisements in PCI — and has
left the BBC Micro to capture tens of
thousands of sales unopposed.

The BBC Micro has massive support
from serious home/educaiional/small-
b us i ness users. It also probably has a year’s
grace before the PCjr finally arrives. By
this time the BBC software base will be that
much stronger, especially in the area of
small-business and executive tools where it
is currently weakest* It should continue to
prosper, possibly at the same price as
today, though with a profit margin lor
dealers. Apple may be squeezed between
the BBC and the PCjr, and the He’s price
might well need to drop to under £500.

Whenever the PCjr arrives, and

whatever the price, it looks likely to
establish PC compatibility as a major
factor at the bottom end of the micro
market. This will benefit the Advance and
other IBM look-alikes due to appear on the
home-micro market* Machines which have
a strong user base or can develop one
before that happens should be OK* Trying
to establish a new standard, like the
Japanese manufacturers with the Microsoft
MSX eight-bit system, looks like a
complete waste of time.

Conclusions

• The main advantage of the PCjr is that it
offers compatibility with the IBM PC, and
thus both a share of the software base and
an upgrade path*

• The main disadvantage is (be keyboard,
it looks as though its deficiencies are
deliberate, in order to protect sales of the
IBM PC itself.

• A further disadvantage is that it has non-
standard ports and the nominal price does
not include numerous extras that will in
fact be required — like DOS 2.1 with the
enhanced PCjr* The new models are more
expensive than they look — but (hen, this
applies to many other machines too*

• The PCjr entry-level system is under-
powered and overpriced at $669 plus extras*
If it comes to the U.K. at £500 lo £550 it
should not hurt the BBC Model B, though
it might*

• The enhanced PCjr is very competitive at
$1,269 including disc drive. If it arrives in
the U*K, at around £1,000 it looks likely to
hurt Apple,

• The PCjr will be a success thanks to the

excellence of IBM’s marketing and (he
strength of the name. PC compatibility
could be established as a major force at the
bottom end of the micro market, wiping
out those firms who do not have a large
user base. m

52

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

MemPak

Available in 128K or 256K
does not interfere with next slot

GamoPak

Piggy -backs
above edge connector

SECOND SERIAL PORT (optional)
configurable as COM1 or COM2
100% IBM compatible

PARITY CHECKED MEMORY

socketed from 64K to 2S6K

QPIus II

CLOCK/CALENDAR

Ctip-on battery

Automatically
sets time & date

' PRINTER PORT

~ — w configurable as
LPT1 or LPT2
100% IBM Compatible

PARITY CHECKED
MEMORY

socketed from
64K to 38K

ASYNCHRONOUS PORT

configurable as CQM1 or COM2
Programmable parity, baud rate, etc,
IMB compatible RS232-C Serial

SixS hooter

Game Adapter

(optional)

THE ONLY BOARDS YOU REALLY

QPIus II and the SixShooter are America’s most popular
pair of enhancements for the IBM PC & XT. They offer
the most comprehensive list of features available while
occupying just one slot in your computer. State of the art
engineering along with the most rigorous quality
controls in the industry result in a product in keeping
with the high standards set by IBM.

The Qplus 11 comes standard with
clock/calendar, asynchronous serial
port (RS232C), and your choice of
memory from 64K to 256K. Options
include: a second asynchronous port, a
parallel printer port, a game port on a
plug-in “piggy-back" board, and a choice
of 1 28K or 256K MemPaks. The
MemPaks give you the ability to add 384K
or 51 2K of memory in one slot.

NEED FOR YOUR IBM PC OR XT

Also included with both boards is the SuperDrive™ disk
emulation software. It allows you to create up to three
“electronic disk drives" in memory which access your
programmes at the speed of RAM memory. You also get
SuperSpool™ 1 , a programme which allows you to assign
a portion of memory to act as a print spooler.

Both boards are backed up by a one year parts and
labor warranty and 48 hour turnaround on any warranty
repairs. Visit your local dealer and pick up a brochure
with the full details. If he doesn't have the information
have him give us a call. Your PC will really thank you.
Suggested List Prices;

64K £31 9 1 28K £389 192KE459 256KC529
Options; Second async port, printer port, game port, and
GamePak, each £40. MemPak 1 28K £1 99,
MemPak 256K £349.

The SixShooter is ideal for the XT model. It offers a
battery powered clock/calendar, asynchronous port,
parallel primer port, SuperDrive & SuperSpool software,
and your choice of memory up to 384K, all standard.
Optional is an IBM compatible game port adapter.

• Circle No. 129

QUBIE' DISTRIBUTING LTD.

Tempo House, 1 5 Falcon Road

London, SW1 1

(01) 223-4569, 223-7662

A HIGH PERFORM

MULTHJSE

GRASPTHE FACTS AND SAVE UPTO 501

ANCE, GENUINE,

FI SYSTEM.

Some installations are a little
more difficult than others!

Such as the one at Banham
Patent Locks, Limited, in
London.

BROMCOM® supplied
hardware and software that
would have taken a respect-
able-sized minicomputer
from, say, DEC or IBM or
Olivetti at twice the price for
hardware, three times the
price for software and four
times as long to implement.

The Hardware -
BROMCOM SuperStar™ -
is handling six terminals
(expandable to 1 6) and three
printers with 20Mbyte disk
storage and tape backup.

The operators work round the
clock, so the speed and
reliability demanded of the
system are high.

Operators can simul-
taneously enter Invoices,
Payments, etc, while other
functions such as word
processing and database
operations (over 15000
entries!) are in constant use
by other terminals.

BROMCOM

Bromley Computer Consultancy Ltd

417-421 Bromley Road, Bromley, Kent, BR1 4PJ.
Telephone: 01 -697 8933 Telex: 896691

POWERFUL-

HIGH PERFORMANCE- FLEXIBLE

VERY COST-EFFECTIVE WITH
LOW ENTRY PRICE

. FULLY MODULAR AND EASY
LOW-COST EXPANSION

WORLD-STANDARD SI 00 HARDWARE
AND OPERATING SYSTEM - CP/M
OR MS-DOS

. FULL MULTI-USER CAPABILITY WITH
RECORD/FILE LOCKING AND PRINTER
SPOOLING

FIELD-PROVED OVER TWO YEARS WITH
A LONG LIST OF SATISFIED CLIENTS

STYLISH NEW DESIGNS FOR 1984 AND
“T BEYOND

MODEL 1 0 CATERS FOR UP TO 6 USERS,
T MODEL 20 UP TO 16 USERS

vl

SuperStar

Put some colour into
your printing
without going into the red

The new PRISM impact matrix printers let you put colour
into your printed output, at a cost you can afford.

Both the PRISM 80-column and the PRISM-132 column
make most single colour printers look pale by comparison.

□ Added versatility: the four basic
colours (black, cyan, magenta and
yellow) can also be mixed precisely
to give up to 1 44 different shades.

□ Correspondence quality at 1 10 cps.

□ High quality draft printing at 200 cps.

□ 84 x 84 dpi high resolution graphics
capability.

□ Staggered 9-wire print head - ideal
for precision word processing
applications.

□ Bi-directional printing to maximise
throughput.

□ Proven reliability.

□ Selectable automatic justification and
character sizes.

□ Optional manual and automatic
sheet feeding.

PRISN printers.

They brighten up your day.

□ Compatable interfaces to most micros Dealer Enquiries
including Apple, IBM and Sirius. Welcomed.

Teleprinter Equipment Ltd.

Akeman Street.Tring, Herts. HP23 6 AJ. Telephone: Tring (0442 82) 401 1/5551
International Telephone: +44 44282 401 1/5551. Telex: 82362
Regional Sales and Service: Manchester (061-626) 3371 .

Associated Companies GADC/CAE/ME

CAE Group. UK distributors for computer peripherals from General Electric. Geveke. GNT, Integral Data Systems Navtel NEC Mitsui
Qume, Silver Reed. Spectron Northern Telecom. Teleray. Teletype and Texas Instruments.

56

• Circle No. 131

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Microware and IBM

— an unbeatable

combination.

We promise to:

Analyse and identify your
requirements.

Advise on your system needs.

Supply and install your
equipment.

Provide the widest range of software support.
Offer comprehensive maintenance contracts.
Take pride in our unparalleled after sales service.

1. PC Pair

Hard disk storage

• 3.9" Wine he ste r d r i ves

• Single board DTC controller plugs
directly on to PC Bus

• No additional power required

• Fixed or removable second drive

2. Our range of 5 W external Winchesters
provides up to 80 Mb of storage

• Easy hack up facility

(D Microware

Microware (London) Ltd.

Showroom at: 637 Holloway Road, London N 19 5SS.

Phone 01-272 6237/6398 or Telex 297598.

IBM Authorised Dealer

Personal

Computer

• Circle Ho. 132

All products are supplied
complete with full originator’
documentation.

Soft option

fa— SOFTWARE "CENTREm

NETWORKING

PC net

• Local area network and shared resource

• Independent of disk type ie XT, corvus etc

• Independent hard disk system

• Remote PC

• IBM PC DOS LL 2.0

• Disk and hie sharing

• Low cost, easy to use

• Simple to set up

• Upto 16 PC's per file sharer

SOFTWARE

Pegasus - Business application systems

• Sales Ledger

• Purchase Ledger

• Nominal Ledger

• Invoicing

• Payroll

• Stock Control

• Order Entry

• D Base II Applications

Our complete list of software is too long to
publish, hut the w idest range is available from
stock including:

Wordstar, Mai l merge, Supercalc, D Base II,
Fortran 80, Easyfiler, Easy writer, Vis ic ale

TRAINING

We offer training to our IBM PC customers:

1 . Computer aided training, which, after
initial set-up, your PC guides you through
the software

2. On site personal training by our
experienced professional instructors

MONITORS

We recommend from our range the following:
» The new IBM colour monitor

• LUXOR — high res. colour

• AMDEK - the only IBM compatible
amber screen monochrome available

• HAMTAREX- 14" high res. colour

SERVICE

We offer a number of service options including:

1 . War ra n t y/n o tv Wa rra n t y r epa i rs

2. Extended Warranty contracts

3. Quick response service contracts covering
both parts and labour

PURCHASE TERMS

1 . Rental agreements

2. Leasing contracts

3. Approved credit purchase

4. Credit cards

MULTI-TASKING

• Multi-tasking software is now available
for PC DOS — up to 9 tasks can be run

• Concurrent CPM

MEMORY EXPANSION

l > Memory expansion from 64-5 12K

2. Memory expansion with extended features:

• Printer port

• R232

• Games control

• Battery clock/calendar

• Expansion upto 5L2K

3 . Me m o r y expa n sio n f o r e le c t ronic disk
(RAM) providing capacity of up to 2 Mb

WINCHESTER DRIVES

PRINTER STANDS * PROMER BI S * PROMER-SP * PROMER 81 * ROM 81 * flOM-SP-

Work on your own
where you’re
not alone

A place where you can sei up alone or si art a busi-
ness Or open a branch office and no! have to worry
about who answers the phone when you're out.

And the local ion gives swift access lo M4/M3 motor-
ways. the North Circular, the Underground. Brilish
Rail and Healhrow Airport m a leafy environment
with the Thames nearby,

It's London without the hassle.

UNITS FROM tOO SQ. FT. AT £ 28 pw,
INCLUSIVE

Call in, phone or write: Barley Mow Workspace,

10 Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, London
W4 4PH, Telephone 01 -994 6477.

CAMEL PRODUCTS

firm up your software with an

EPROM PROGRAMMER

AT LAST! for the Spectrum user.

i Put your programs, utilities* Assemblers into EPROMS for

instant load from the unique RGM-SP

ROM SP NEW for Spectrum I

Ingenious unit for Spectrum, with 2X28 pin sockets and a Reset but-
ton allows up to '16K of Basic or M/C program to HUN or LOAD in-
stantly from EPROMS. Cabled connector and full extender card,
NOTE: Does not disable Sinclair ROM. £29.515

PROMER SP NEW for Spectrum

A brand new Spectrum programmer for 2764/128. Zero insertion
force socket & software on tape. Delivery Jan, 84, Order now at

£29.95

PROMER BPS NEW for Spectrum

The very popular PROM Ell-81 for the ZX81 has been adapted to the
Spectru m and the price kept low. £22.95

ROM 31

Provides two 24 pin sockets for up to 8 K of EPROM memory in the j|
8-1 6 K area. Can use 25 1 6/32 or 2 7 1 6/32 £14,95 j

PROMER 81

At last! A low cost reliable programmer for 2516/32, 271 6/32 1|
EPROMS. This is the solution to using EPROMs instead of tape.
Requires 4XPP3 batteries for a regulated 25 volts. Remarkably jl
priced at £19,951

BL0PR0M-81
A uniquely sophisticated
EPROM PROGRAMMER

In use at various labs inti, Sinclair
Research

Eprom programmer for the 2518,
27XX single supply families,
yes, even the 27128 from Intel.
Check, Head, Program + Verify
all or part of Eprom,

[So immensely user friendly you'll

NO. OF SYSTEM -HEX
EPROM TYPE — 2712&
RAM START AOQR —1800
EPROM ST. ADDR —8000
JOB LENGTH —4000
TASK — CHECK

WHICH TASK DO YOU WISH TO DO
W) CHECK THAT EPROM IS CLEAN

hardly need the manual. X} READ THE CONTENTS OF EPROM INTO
Designed for the beginner but RAM

includes a single key entry route AN WITH 0ATA FROM

for the professional. Supplied as z) verity THAT EPROM data IS THE Sam£
firmware, the m/c driver routine „ JKJNRAM

alone is worth more than the . 9 QUIT R TO REST ART

price of BLOPROM-81. No PAST CODES available

Personality Cards, or

H

PQR

WXYZ

| other additions, just a ZX81 , Several inbuilt safety features. On-
board Vpp generation. 28pm ZIF socket. Cabled connector and |
extender plug. ABS ease.

Note: Can provide up to 36 inputs or 40 outputs as an I/O £79,95 |

DREAM-81

Full 64 K Rampack with link options to disable 0-8-1 6K. Plus a 28 pin
EPROM socket for 2716, £732/2764 and even Lhe latest 27128
from Intel. Fast/slow Eprom option, professionally built and
tested. In an ABS ease with an LED indicator, £59.95

DHOBI 1 UV ERASER

Compact. Mains powered Safe. Fully cased Up to 3 EPROMS £18.95

DHOBI 2

With automatic timer. £22.95 |

MEMIC-81

A 4K CMOS HAM and lithium battery unit. Easy SAVEing, lOyr
storage and instant retrieval of programs. Resides in 8-12K or

1 2-1 6K of 2X81. £29.95

I CRAMIC-8 1

| Ingenious hardware/software allows this 16K CMOS RAM with
lithium battery to Co-exist in same memory area as ordinary R AM.
ZX8L can multitask on two completely independent programs,
' £79.95

PRIWTERjMONiTDR ACCESSORIES

MSB Monitor Stand for BBC micro, I
Sits over the Beeb|
17' i X12' , X3.1b*'

P&P £3,50 £19.95

PSS Standard printer stands for

OKI. Epson etc. 15 t 'X12 1 'X4.5",

P+P £3.50 £16.95

PSL Large model 17 'Xl4,5 , 'X3.75 f '
P&P £3.50 £19.95

| PSC-3 for Epson MX-100
etc, 2PX14 1 X3.75".

I P&P £3.50 £22.95

| CUSTOM PRINTER
STANDS for larger
printers P.O.A,

| POT Printer Output Tray
for 11'' fanfold paper
P&P £3.50 £16.95

UK, VAT extra. No VAT on exports P+P UK,
Free Europe +5% — Overseas 4- 10% TLX 81574

Fl+E I CDITIPUTERII1HRE

*ALL THE BEST FROM A + G*

APPLE SOFTWARE

New 1 984 catalogue now available — lower prices
Lots of new items 24 pages of bargains
Send now or phone for your free copy

MONITORS

Phoenix Green Screen Hi-Res £89 Amber £98

Wordprocessor integrated package with Apple
complete with professional software & Daisywheel
from £ 1 41 4

lie r

printer

Printer buffers - external or internal 32K/64K
Serial — parallel competitive prices

Printer Ribbons - Typewheels - Paper - Labels — Cleaner
kits

We are only a phone call away

Acoustic covers for most printers at sensible prices

Printers at unmentionable prices!

Over 80 models on our lists send now or call

Video Terminals Lots to choose from stock

Do it Now! Ring for our bargain offers.

Govt, & Educ. orders welcome.

Fast delivery by Interlink Courier - FREE delivery!

Mainland U.K,

Please add VAT to all totals

P,0, Box 34, Cheadte, Cheshire, SK8 4PT
Telephone 061-428-2014

► Circle No. 138

STOCK TAKING SALE
' Sinus 1 olivelli Praxis 35

128K RAM. 1.2 Mb CP/M & MS
DOS operating systems, only
£1850

Other printers at
unbeatable prices

Daisywheel Electronic
Typewriter Printer
Centronics Interface
Correction Ribbon
Choice of Typefaces

Seikosha GP1 QQA
Seikosha GP2 50X
Epson RX80
Epson FX8Q

£170

£220

£260

£360

Add VA T but Delivery is Free

ASCO BUSINESSES

Microware and IBM

— an unbeatable

combination.

IBM

Personal

Computer

We promise to:

Analyse and identify your
requirements.

Advise on your system needs.

Supply and install your
equipment.

Provide the widest range of software support.
Offer comprehensive maintenance contracts*
Take pride in our unparalleled after sales service.

MEMORY EXPANSION

1 . Memory expansion from 64-5 L2K

2. Memory expansion with extended features:

• Printer port

• R232

• Games control

• Ba t ter y c lo c k/c a le n da r

• Expansion up to 512K

3. Memory expansion for electronic disk
(HAM ) providing capacity of up to 2 Mb

MULTI-TASKING

• M ulti-t asking so f t wa re i s now a va liable
for PC DOS - up to 9 tasks can be run

• Concurrent CPM

WINCHESTER DRIVES

1 . PC Pair

Hard disk storage

• 3.9" Winchester drives

• Single hoard DTC controller plugs
directly on to PC Bus

• No additional power required

• Fixed or removable second drive

2. Our range of 5 l A" external Winchesters
provides up to 80Mb of storage

• Easy back up facility

rr\

NETWORKING

PC net

• Local area network and shared resource

• Independent of disk type ie XX corvus etc

• Independent hard disk system

• Remote PC

• IBM PC DOS l A, 1,0

• Disk and file sharing

• Low cost, easy to use

• Simple to set up

• Up to 16 PC’s per hie sharer

SOFTWARE

Pegasus - Business application systems

• Sales Ledger

• Purchase Ledger

• Nominal Ledger

• invoicing

• Payroll

• Stock Control

• Order Entry

• D Base 11 Applications

Our complete list of softw are is too long to
publish * but the widest range is available from
stock including:

Wordstar, Mail merge, Supercalc, D Base II,
Fortran 80, Easyfiler, Easy writer, Visicalc

TRAINING

We offer training to our IBM PC customers:

1 . Computer aided training, which, after
initial set-up, your PC guides you through
the software

2. On site personal training by our
experienced professional instructors

MONITORS

We recommend from our range the following:

• The new IBM colour monitor

• LUXOR — high res. colour

• AMDEK — the only IBM compatible
amber screen monochrome available

• HANTAREX— 14" high res. colour

SERVICE

We offer a number of service options including:

1 . Wa r ra n t y/n o n > W r a rra n ty repa i rs

2. Extended Warranty contracts

3. Quick response service contracts covering
both parts and labour

PURCHASETERMS

1 . Rental agreements

2 . Least ng c o n t rac t s

3. Approved credit purchase
4- Credit cards

Microware

Microware (London) Ltd.

Showroom at: 637 Holloway Road, London N 19 5SS.

Phone 0 1 -272 623 7 63 98 or Telex 297598.

IBM Authorised Dealer

Personal

Computer

• Circle No. 132

PRINTER STAMPS PROMER 81 S * PROMER-SP • PROMER 81 * ROM 81 * ROM SP-

CAMEL PRODUCTS

firm up your software with an

EPROM PROGRAMMER

AT LAST! for the Spectrum user,
i Put your programs, utilities. Assemblers into EPROMS for
instant load from the unique ROM-SP
ROM SP NEW for Spectrum

Ingenious unit for Spectrum, with 2X28 pin sockets and a Reset but-
ton allows up to 1 6K of Basic or M/C program to RUN or LOAD in-
stantly from EPROMS. Cabled connector and full extender card.
NOTE: Does not disable Sinclair ROM. £29.95

PROMER-SP NEW for Spectrum

A brand new Spectrum programmer for 2764/128. Zero insertion
force socket & software on tape. Delivery Jan. 84. Order now at

£29.95

PROMER 81 -S NEW for Spectrum

The very popular PROMER-81 for the ZX81 has been adapted to the
Spectrum and the price kept low. £22.95

ROM-81

Provides two 24 pin sockets for up to 8K of EPROM memory in the
8-1 6K area. Can use 2516/32 or 2716/32 * £14.95

PROMER-81

At last! A low cost reliable programmer for 2516/32, 2716/321
EPROMS. This is the solution to using EPROMs instead of tape.
Requires 4XPP3 batteries for a regulated 25 volts. Remarkably
priced at £19.951

STATUS NO. OF SYSTEM -HEX
EPROM TYPE -27128
RAM START AOOR —4000
EPROM ST. AOOR - 0000
JOB LENGTH — 4000
TASK - CHECK

WHICH TASK 00 YOU WISH TO 00

W) CHECK THAT EPROM IS CLEAN

X) READ THE CONTENTS OF EPROM INTO
RAM

Y) BLOW AN EPROM WITH DATA FROM
RAM

Z) VERIFY THAT EPROM DATA IS THE SAME
AS IN RAM

OTOOUIT R TO RESTART

FAST CODES AVAILABLE:

H PQR WXYZ

BLOPROM-81
A uniquely sophisticated
EPROM PROGRAMMER

In use at various labs incl. Sinclair |

Research

Eprom programmer for the 2516,

27XX single supply families,
yes. even the 27128 from Intel.

Check. Read, Program + Verify
all or part of Eprom.

So immensely user friendly you’ll
hardly need the manual.

Designed for the beginner but
includes a single key entry route
for the professional. Supplied as
firmware, the m/c driver routine
alone is worth more than the
price of BLOPROM-81. No
Personality Cards, or

other additions, just a ZX81. Several inbuilt safety features. On- I
board Vpp generation. 28pin ZIF socket. Cabled connector and |
extender plug. ABS case.

Note: Can provide up to 36 inputs or 40 outputs as an I/O £79.95 I

DREAM-81

Full 64 K Rampack with link options to disable 0-8-1 6K. Plus a 28 pin
EPROM socket for 2716. 2732/2764 and even the latest 27128
from Intel. Fast slow Eprom option, professionally built and
tested. In an ABS case with an LED indicator. £59.95

DHOB1 1 UV ERASER

Compact. Mains powered. Safe. Fully cased. Up to 3 EPROMS £18.95

DHOBI 2

With automatic timer. £22.95 |

MEMIC-81

A 4K CMOS RAM and lithium battery unit. Easy SAVEing, lOyr
storage and instant retrieval of programs. Resides in 8-12K or
1 2*1 6K of ZX81. £29.95

CRAMIC81

Ingenious hardware, software allows this 16K CMOS RAM with
lithium batter> ? to Co-exist in same memory area as ordinary RAM .
ZX81 can multitask on two completely independent programs.
' £79.95

PRINTER/M0NIT0R ACCESSORIES

MSB Monitor Stand for BBC micro. I
Sits over the Beeb|
17 M X12"X3.75”

P&P£3.50 £19.95

PSS Standard printer stands for
OKI. Epson etc. 15“X 12”X4.5".
P+P£3.50 £16.95

PSL Large model 17"X14.5"X3.75”
P&P £3.50 £19.95

PSC-3 for Epson MX-100
etc. 21"X14”X3.75”.
P&P £3.50 £22.95

CUSTOM PRINTER
STANDS for larger
printers P.O.A.

I POT Printer Output Tray
for 11” fanfold paper
P&P £3.50 £16.95

UK. VAT extra. No VAT on exports P+P UK.
Free Europe +5% — Overseas +10% TLX 81574

Cambridge Mcroe/ectronn lid One Wton Rd Cvnbndge CB4 IUY

let (0223) 314814

-+E I CDfUPUTEHlIIHRF:

-ALL THE BEST FROM A + G*

- , MKKLt bUM WARE

New 1 984 catalggue now available — lower prices
Lots of new items — 24 pages of bargains
Send now or phone for your free copy

MONITORS

Phoenix Green Screen Hi-Res £89 Amber £98

Wordprocessor integrated package with Apple lie,
complete with professional software & Daisywheel printer
from £1414

Printer buffers - external or internal 32K/64K
Serial parallel com petitive prices

Printer Ribbons - Typewheels - Paper — Labels - Cleaner
kits

We are only a phone call away

Acoustic covers for most printers at sensible prices

Printers at unmentionable prices!

Over 80 models on our lists — send now or call

Video Terminals — Lots to choose from stock

Do it Now! Ring for our bargain offers.

Govt. & Educ. orders welcome.

Fast delivery by Interlink Courier — FREE delivery!

Mainland U.K.

Please add VAT to all totals

P.O. Box 34, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 4PT
Telephone 061-428-2014

• Circle No. 138

STOCK TAKING SALE

• ACT

stmts i

Olivetti Praxis 35

1 28K RAM. 1 .2 Mb CP/M & MS
DOS operating systems, only
£1850

Other printers at
unbeatable prices

Seikosha GP1 OOA

£170

Seikosha GP250X

£220

Epson RX80

£260

Epson FX80

£360

Daisywheel Electronic
Typewriter Printer
Centronics Interface
Correction Ribbon
Choice of Typefaces

Add VAT but Delivery is Free

I

ASCO BUSINESSES

43 Windmill Way. Reigate, Sy RH2 OJB Tel: (07372) 48055

60

• Circle No. 137

• Circle No. 139

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Microware and IBM
— an unbeatable
combination.

We promise to:

• Analyse and identify your
requirements.

• Advise on your system needs.

• Supply and install your
equipment.

• Provide the widest range of software support.

• Offer comprehensive maintenance contracts.

• Take pride in our unparalleled after sales service.

MEMORY EXPANSION

1 . Memory expansion from 64- 5 12 K
2- Memory expansion with extended features:

• Printer port

• R232

• Games control

• Battery clock/calendar

• Expansion up to 51 2K

5. Memory expansion for electronic disk
(RAM) providing capacity of up to 2 Mh

MULTI-TASKING

• Multi-tasking software is now available
for PC DOS - up to 9 tasks can be run

• Concurrent CPM

WINCHESTER DRIVES

1. PC Pair

Hard disk storage

• 3,9" Winchester drives

• Single board DTC controller plugs
directly on to PC Bus

• No additional power required

• Fixed or removable second drive

2, Our range of 5 l A" external Winchesters
provides up to SO Mb of storage

• Easy back up facility

NETWORKING

PC net

• Local area network and shared resource

• Independent of disk type ie XT, corvus etc

• Independent hard disk system

• Remote PC

• IBM PC DOS 1.1 ,2.0

• Disk and file sharing

• Low cost, easy to use

• Simple to set up

• Up to 16 PC’s per file sharer

SOFTWARE

Pegasus ' Business application systems

• Sales Ledger

• Purchase Ledger

• Nominal Ledger

• Invoicing

• Payroll

• Stock Control

• Order Entry

• D Base II Applications

Our complete list of software is too long to
publish, but the widest range is available from
stock including:

Wordstar, Mailmerge, Supercalc, D Base II,
Fortran 80, Easy filer, Easy writer, Visicale

TRAINING

We offer training to our IBM PC customers:

1 , Computer aided training, which, after
initial set-up, your PC guides you through
the software

2, On site personal training by our
experienced professional instructors

MONITORS

We recommend from our range the following:

• The new IBM colour monitor

• LUXOR - high res* colour

• AMDEK - the only IBM compatible
amber screen monochrome available

• H ANTAREX - L4" high res* colour

SERVICE

We offer a number of service options including:
1 .Warrant y/non- Warranty repairs

2. Extended Warranty contracts

3. Quick response service contracts covering

both parts and labour

PURCHASE TERMS

1 . Rental agreements

2. Leasing contracts

3* Approved credit purchase
4* Credit cards

CD Microware

Micro ware ( London) Ltd.

Showroom at: 637 Holloway Road, London N 19 5SS.

Phone 01-27 2 6237/6398 or Telex 297 598.

IBM Authorised Dealer

• Circle No. 132

Personal

Computer

SUPPLIES

SURPRISE!

disk? m

I h ir K -. ^CrTR^NSn

Simply the best catalogue of
Computer^ Word Processor Supplies available.

We would be pleased to send you a copy.

Name ___
Company
Address _

Tel

AIVS Computer Supplies Limited, 57, Surbiton Road,
Kingston upon-Thanws, Surrey KT I 2H<1 Tel: OI -.Vil

Work on your own
where you’re
not alone

A place where you can sei up alone or slan a busi-
ness or open a branen office and nol have to worry
about who answers She phone when you're out
And the localion gives swift access to M4/M3 molor-
ways, the North Circular, Ihe Underground, Bnlish
Rail and Heathrow Airport in a leafy environment
with the Thames nearby
It s London without the hassle
UNITS FROM 100 SQ. FT, AT £28 pw,
INCLUSIVE

Call in, phone or write: Barley Mow Workspace,
10 Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, London
W4 APH. Tf'lpnhnmi ni.ona fid? 7

* Circle No. 133

• Circle No. 134

GIVE YOUR VIC OR 64 FULL IEEE
AND RS232

Not a cartridge. Compatible with any software.

SPEED UP ANY BASIC PROGRAM
WITH OUR COMPILERS

Up to 40 times speed increase, reduced program size.

BASIC COMPILERS

Petspeed Compiler for 4000/8000 series El 25,00

Integer Basic Compiler for 3000/4000/8000 series £75.00

CROSS-COMPILERS FOR BASIC

Portspeed: Compiles source on 8000 series to run

Interpod; Free-standing interface giving IEEE488
and RS232C capabilities to CBM64/VIC20

. £99,95

on CBM 64 ____ _____

x 64:1 nteger compiler compil Eng on 8000 series
giving machine code executable on CBM 64 ___

B-Port: Compiles source on 8000 series to run on
700/ B- 1 28 series . _

.6125.00

_ £125.00

SPECIAL OFFER

Order 5 or more Interpod and get a free Portspeed!

Ail prices are exclusive of VAT. There is also a small charge for
post and packing. Dealer discounts are available on ail products
except the 700 cross-compilers.

Compilers are supplied ex-stock; Interpod supplied 7-days
ex-stock.

COMMODORE SOFTWARE

Native compiler for the CBM 64 and the700/B428 are
available only from Commodore.

. £450,00

X-700: Integer compiler compiling on 8000 series
giving machine code executable on 700/ B~ 1 28 .

.£450.00

Oxford Computer Systems (Software) Ltd.

Hensington Road. Woodstock. Oxford 0X7 1 JR. England
Telephone (0993) 812700 Telex 83 1 47 Ref. OCSL

VISA

ACCEPTED

58

• Circle No. 135

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Nol source
for software

1984 PRICE UST
NOWAVAILABLE

Phone for your FREE copy

c )tlt

'%\0

^ Degjli fest 1 ^*

Make Soft Option your Nol.
Chances are we’ll have the right
product, in the right format, in
stock in quantity.

pport

• Friendly service

• SAME DAY DESPATCH

Wherever possible

All products are supplied
complete with full originator's
documentation.

RING THE SOFTUNE Grantham(0476) 860171

Soft option

W SOFTWARE'CEHTRE—

The Soft Option (UK) Ltd. Home Farm House Colsterworth
Grantham Lincolnshire NG33 5HZ Tel: Grantham (0476) 860171

i Circle No. 136

59

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

PRINTER STANDS PROMER BI S * PROMERSP * PROMER-81 * ROM 81 * flOM-SP-’

CAMEL PRODUCTS

firm up your software with an

EPROM PROGRAMMER

AT LAST! for the Spectrum user.

i Put your programs, utilities. Assemblers into EPROMS for

instant load from the unique ROM-SP

ROM SP NEW for Spectrum |

Ingenious unit for Spectrum, with 2X28 pin sockets and a Reset but-
ton allows up to 16 K of Basic or M/C program to HUN or LOAD in-
stantly from EPROMS. Cabled connector and full extender card.

N GTE : Does not d isahle Sind air HO M . £29.95

PROMER SP NEW for Spectrum

A brand new Spectrum programmer for 2764/128. Zero insertion
force socket & software on tape. Delivery Jan. 84. Order now at

£29,95

PROMER BI S NEW for Spectrum

The very popular PROMER-81 for the ZX81 has been adapted to the
Spectrum and t he price kept low . £22.95

ROM-81

Provides two 24 pin sockets for up to 8K of EPROM memory in the I
8-1 6K area. Can use 2516/32 or 2716/32 ' £14.95 |

PROMER 81

At last! A low cost reliable programmer for 2516/32, 27 16/32 j
EPROMS. This is the solution to using EPROMs instead of tape.
Requires 4XPP3 batteries for a regulated 25 volts. Remarkably j
priced at £19.95*

STATUS NO. OF SYSTEM -HEX
EPROM TYPE — 27126
RAM START ADDR -4 m
EPROM ST, AODR-MOa
JOB LENGTH — 4QO0
TASK — CHECK

WHICH TASK DO YOU WISH TO 00

W) CHECK THAT EPROM IS CLEAN

X) READ THE CONTENTS OF EPROM INTO
RAM

7) BLOW AN EPROM WITH OATA FROM
RAM

Z) VERIFY THAT EPROM DATA IS THE SAME
AS IN RAM

G TO QUIT RTO RESTART

FAST CODES AVAIUV&LE:

H PGR WXYZ

BLO PROM-81
A uniquely sophisticated
EPROM PROGRAMMER

In use at various labs inch Sinclair l
Research

Eprom programmer for the 2516,

27 XX single supply families,
yes. even the 27128 from Intel.

Check. Read. Program + Verify
all or part of Eprom.

So immensely user friendly you'll
hardly need the manual.

Designed for the beginner but
includes a single key entry route
for the professional. Supplied as
firmware, the m/e driver routine
alone is worth more than the
price of R LOP ROM-81. No
Personality Cards, or

other additions, just a ZX81. Several inbuilt safety features. On- I
board Vpp generation. 28pin ZIP socket, Cabled connector and |
extender plug. ABS case.

Note; Can provide up to 36 inputs or 40 outputs as an I/O £79.95 |

DREAM-81

Full 64 K Rampack with link options to disable 0-8- 16K, Plus a 28 pin
EPROM socket for 2716, 2732/2764 and even the latest 27128
from Intel. Fast' slow Eprom option, professionally built and
tested. 1 n an A BS case with an LE D indicator, £59,95

DHOB1 1 UV ERASER

Compact Mains powered Safe. Fully cased Up to 3 EPROMS £18,1)5

DHOBI 2

With automatic timer. £22.95 |

MEMIC431

A 4K CMOS RAM and lithium battery unit, Easy SAVEing, lOyr j
storage and instant retrieval of programs. Resides in 8-1 2K or I
1246K of ZX8 1 , £29.95

CRAMIC 81

Ingenious hardware' software allows this 16K CMOS RAM with |
lithium battery to Co-exist in same memory area as ordinary RAM.
ZX81 can multitask on two completely independent programs,

£79.95 |

PR1NTERJMQNITQR ACCESSORIES

MSB Monitor Stand for BBC micro.
Sits over the Beeb|
17 ,1 X12' , X3.75 M

P&P £3.50 £19.95

PSS Standard printer stands for

OKL Epson etc, 15 ,, X12 , 'X4.5 M .

P4-P £3,50 £16.95

PSL Large model 17”X14.5 Jf X3,75 fh
P&P £3.50 £19.95

FSC-3 for Epson MX-100
etc. 21"X14 P, X3.75 ',
P&P £3,50 £22.95

CUSTOM PRINTER
STANDS for larger
printers P.O, A.

I POT Printer Output Tray
for 11" fanfold paper
P&P £3.50 £16,95

UK. VAT extra. No VAT on exports P+P UK.
Free Europe +5% - Overseas 4-10% TLX 81574

Cjtflbfxfye Mcwefecnoms ltd, ike Mrfm 8d. C&tfxtdge £84 W

kt mm 314814

COmPUTERLDHRE

* ALL THE BEST FROM A + G*

APPLE SOFTWARE

New 1 984 catalogue now available - lower prices
Lots of new items - 24 pages of bargains
Send now or phone for your free copy

MONITORS

Phoenix Green Screen Hi-Res £89 Amber £98

Wordprocessor integrated package with Apple lie,
complete with professional software & Daisywheel printer
from £ 1 4 1 4

Printer buffers external or internal 32K/64K
Serial - parallel competitive prices

Printer Ribbons - Typewheels Paper - Labels Cleaner
kits

We are only a phone call away

Acoustic covers for most printers at sensible prices

Printers at unmentionable prices!

Over SO models on our lists - send now or call

Video Terminals Lots to choose from stock

Do it Now! Ring for our bargain offers.

Govt. & Educ, orders welcome.

Fast delivery by Interlink Courier — FREE delivery!
Mainland U.K.

Please add VAT to all totals

P.O. Box 34, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 4PT
Telephone 061-428-2014

• Circle No. 138

STOCK TAKING SALE

1 £.QT\ __ p

DOS operating systems, only
£1850

Other printers at
unbeatable prices

Daisywheel Electronic
Typewriter Printer
Centronics Interface
Correction Ribbon
Choice of Typefaces

Seikosha GP100A
Seikosha GP250X
Epson RX80
Epson FX80

£170

£220

£260

£360

Add VAT but Delivery is Free

ACT

— mi

Olivetti Praxis 35

ASCO BUSINESSES

43 Windmill Way, Reigate, Sy RH2 OJBTeL (073721 4SQ55

60

• Circle No. 137

• Circle No. 139

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

A PERFORMANCE AND
PRICE BREAKTHROUGH IN

APPLE ][& lie

HARD DISC STORAGE

High Performance AID hard disc systems of 5-20 megabyte
capacities, specifically designed for use with the Apple, are no w
available running under DOS, CP/M & Pascal. The units cold boot and
throughput speeds are really impressive. If you want to leave others
standing, try our fast DOS option!

The range features the 5+5 and 10+10 drives which enable you to
configure half the drive as primary and half as secondary storage for ease
of archiving.

The systems have been designed around the concepts of data
reliability and convenience of operation.

They are simply the most competitive hard discs on the market. So
why pay more for less.

interface | [\| ~P E C

technology

INTEC. 41A-45. Knight’s Hill, West Norwood, London, SE27 01-761 5999 Tlx: 8813271 GECOMS G

LOW PRICE
5Mb £990
10 Mb £1270
20 Mb £1490

All prices ex-VAT
Apple is the registered
trade mark of Apple Irta

DEALER ENQUIRIES
WELCOME

• Circle No. 140

PULSAR

BUSINESS SOFTWARE

The star performer for

apricot

Please send
me details
of Pulsar
Business
Software
for Apricot

Name

Position

Company

Address

Telephone

• Circle No. 141

The Pulsar range of business software will turn
Apricot into a powerful management tool.

Software engineers working hand-in-hand with
the Apricot development team have enhanced the
range of accounting, word-processing and modelling
packages to maximise Apricot’s exciting fourth
generation features.

Already 10,000 users of Sirius and IBM PCs have
given Pulsar their seal of approval.

STAR PERFORMER

PULSAR takes the mystique out of computing
without sacrificing performance. From the design of
the software through to the documentation, the accent
is on friendliness and ease of use, making it an
effective business partner in a matter of hours.

And by harnessing the new fourth generation
features of Apricot -like the unique MicroScreen “ -
Pulsar has become the friendliest business software
around.

Pulsar is true 16-bit software developed by ACT
at a cost of over £1 million for today’s business
computers. Pulsar owes nothing to early 8-bit software,
being developed from powerful programs written by
ACT’S engineers for its own bureau mainframe
computers. It draws on over 18 years experience in
creating packaged business software.

DESIGNED TO PLAY A LEADING ROLE

The Pulsar range has been designed to meet all
the management information needs of business users.
Consisting of some 15 integrated packages, the range
includes commercial accounting functions, office
systems for word processing and electronic mail, and
management tools for planning and modelling. The
integration between packages is powerful and flexible.

Shared information means files don’t have to be
duplicated and data does not have to be re-entered.

AND IN SUPPORT

ACT’s investment in Pulsar goes beyond the
software to encompass full training facilities for
users and ‘hot-line’ support for your dealers to
make sure you get the best service possible.

In addition to a nationwide network of
over 500 independent dealers
ACT has hand-picked 60 Pulsar (R

Software Centres who specialise 4

in Pulsar and can give wm

immediate on-the-spot V

advice and action. ™

A STAR-STUDDED CAST
The Pulsar Range for Apricot:

Sales Ledger £195 dGraph™ £195

Purchase Ledger £1 95 MicroModeller ,, " £595
Nominal Ledger £1 95 Mars 1 ’ 11 £395

Payroll £1 95 SuperCalc 2' m ( u P g r adej £95

Stock Control £195 SuperCalc 3' m (u Pg r a d el £ 195
Invoicing £195 Mu]tip]ari ,n £175

Data Analysis £195 Wordstar"” £295

informer Database £295 Mail Merge"” £95

dBase II"" £395 SuperWriter"’’ £295

For more information on Pulsar the Star Performer
for Apricot clip the coupon and return to

Freepost Birmingham B16 1BR

or call 021-455 7000

indicates registered trade mark. Ownership details on request. All prices exclude VAT.

UV1S 3 HI 33S

The 64K Color Computer is being launched this month.
Jack Schofield sees if at last Tandy can slay the Dragon 32

TANDY COLOR
COMPUTER 2

THE TANDY Color Computer was launched
in late 1981, and represented a significant
shift in approach by Tandy Radio Shack, It
used the powerful Motorola 6809 chip,
rather than the Tandy standard Zilog Z-80,
and it offered colour, sound, a cartridge
slot and joystick ports. Like the Texas
Instruments TI-99/4a and Atari micros, it
was aimed at the consumer rather than the
enthusiast.

Unfortunately, Tandy had not reckoned
on a mythical fire-breathing monster from
the Welsh hills, which devoured the U.K.
market before the Color Computer really
got going. The Dragon 32 offered
remarkably similar features to the Color
Computer. In addition, it had a better
keyboard, twice as much memory, and cost
a lot less. In fact, when the 32K Color
Computer was born* the Dragon was
virtually half the price.

Tandy could not outsell Dragon on the
availability of software, because by
choosing the 6809 it had cut itself off from
its own software base. Neither could it sell
on the availability of peripherals: few
Dragon 32 buyers realised how long it
would take Dragon Data to offer a proper
system, and even fewer cared. Nor could
Tandy beat Dragon at marketing, because
the Dragon 32 was taken up by Boots the

Chemist — one of every Briton’s favourite
stores.

Now Tandy is having another attempt. It
has given the Color Computer a face-lift:
more memory, a better keyboard and a
fresh lick of paint. Also it has cut the price
of the existing models Tairly dramatically.
The 32K Extended Basic model is down
from £379.95 to £299.95, and the 16K
standard model from £239.95 to £179.95.
The cost of a disc drive with controller has
dropped too, from £459.95 to £349. In spite
of all this, the 64K Color Computer
remains an ugly duckling, as will be seen
later.

However, Tandy has provided it with the
potential to be a swan, by implementing the
Unix-like OS-9 operating system on the
64K model. This offers real concurrent
operation or multi-tasking. It offers multi-
user facilities, so you can hang an extra
terminal off the CoCo’s serial port, plus
login, password protection and tree-
structured directories. In several respects
the 64K CoCo gives machines like the IBM
PC a good run for their money, since the
6809 is as much of a 16-bit chip as the Intel
8088 which powers the IBM.

The new Color Computer makes a good
first impression, and sports a smart grey
finish instead of Tandy’s usual silver. The

case is solid and extremely well finished.
The Tandy leaves the Dragon slain in
overall appearance.

The keyboard also appears to be good.
Gone are what the Americans call Chicklet
keys, after the popular sugar-coated
chewing gum. However, the keys have a
stiff touch and very little travel. The typing
quality is well below that of the Atari XL
range, BBC Model B, Sharp MZ-71 1, and
even the Dragon, Chicklet keys positioned
over a membrane worked belter than they
looked; the new keyboard looks better than
it works, but it is an improvement.

Like the 32K CoCo and the Dragon
itself, the new model has a limited number
of keys and a very limited character set. The
64K CoCo has only 53 keys: no function
keys, no numeric keypad, no Escape key,
not even a Control key, and the keys still
lack auto-repeat. The character set is still
more limited. The 53 keys produce only 63
alphanumeric characters and symbols. The
rest of the 255 available mainly comprise a
weird and wonderful collection of block-
graphics characters in a range of unexciting
colours.

Thus, like the Dragon, the 64K CoCo
lacks a lower-case character set, which even
the Apple lie has. Of course it is possible to
use inverse caps in place of lower-case

64

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Review

tellers, or you could reconstruct the
character set to include true lower case, but
in this day and age it should not be
necessary. It is not good enough, and that
applies for the 64K Dragon too.

Powering-up reveals the familiar CoCo/
Dragon hideous green screen with black
letters, and only 32 characters by 16 rows of
text. The display is not as awful as that of
the Practical Computing Dragon, but most
current machines do better.

Only 24,871 bytes of RAM are free to
Basic, It seems that, again like the Dragon
64, the 64K CoCo is a 32K machine that
allows you to grab extra memory iT you
want it. Unfortunately the review machine
had no documentation and 1 never
calculated how to do so. Typing Exec did
not work and on the 64K Dragon this gives
41,241 bytes free, which is more than the
Commodore 64. On the CoCo it crashed
the machine.

In its 32K mode, the CoCo has the same
good but slightly old-fashioned Microsoft
Extended Color Basic as before, and the
same rotten Microsoft line editor. Again,
this is not adequate by today’s standards.
Ataris have had full-screen editing since
1979, so Tandy and Dragon should be able
to offer it now too.

The Color Computer becomes a more
attractive machine when you plug a disc-
controller cartridge into the port on the
right-hand side, then plug in one or two disc
drives. Preferably two, because copying a
full disc with one drive involves five
insertions of the source disc and five
insertions of the destination disc.

With discs connected, the 64K CoCo
offers 22,823 bytes free to Basic. The discs
take up less RAM than Atari discs, but
more than the Commodore 64 ones. Disc
operation is simple and straightforward,
though the drives are slow and noisy. The
regrettable thing is that, without warning,

the operating system writes over your old
files if you happen to use the same name as
an existing file. There is no friendly
Are you sure (Y/N)?
or

Replace existing file?

The 64K CoCo comes into its own after
booting die OS-9 disc-operating system,
which I had never used before. It was
written by Microware Systems Corporation
in America especially for the 6809 chip, and
was modelled on the Bell Labs Unix
operating system.

Anyone who is familiar with Unix, or the
Unix-like MS-DOS/ PC- DOS version 2
from the IBM PC, will find OS-9 even
easier to use. Tandy’s excellent docu-
mentation comes in a slip case and con-
sists of one booklet Getting Started with
OS-9 plus three spiral-bound manuals.

Disc feature

OS-9 is on a single disc and the whole
package costs £69.95, It has many
sophisticated features normally found only
on very expensive machines of, say, £5,000
to £50,000, It has a kernel, a shell and a
hierarchical file structure, so you can
organise material in directories, sub-
directories and so on. It has device-
independent input and output, with Pipes
so that the output of one program can
become the input of another.

In Unix you can run several programs
simultaneously if you have enough
memory, by adding & to the command.
Similarly with OS-9 you can have multi-
user operation and hang an extra terminal
from the back of your Color Computer.
Pretty amazing for a toy home micro,

OS-9 allows Unix-like commands such as
dir ! sort >/P&

which does a file directory, sorts it and
sends it to the printer but hands the prompt

back straightaway so that you can do
something else at the same time. Or, for
example,

dir >/P& list myfile& copy oldfile newfile;

del yourfile

sends a directory to the printer at the same
time as typing My file on the screen and,
concurrently, copying from the old file to
the new file. When that’s done it deletes
your file. It is all done by one command
line.

OS-9 comes with a good assembler, a text
editor and an interactive debugger, so the
assembler programmer will be very happy
with it. There’s an OS-9 Basic too, not
supplied for review. The OS-9 prompt is
tedious, reading “OS-9” all the time.
However, you only have to type -P to kill it,
then remove the echo, and the environment
is so convincing that in a few minutes you
believe you are using Unix on a DEC mini
— except that you cannot browse through
Usenet, the anarchic message network.

The 64K CoCo is not perfect. Screen
width is a problem because of the way
copious directory information is wrapped
around. Also, Unix commands are
traditionally all lower case, so the CoCo’s
insistence on capitals only, mixed with
inverse capitals pretending to be lowercase,
is a pain. Finally, the software-driven real-
time clock which OS-9 provides is
hopelessly inaccurate, being configured for
the American mains. Still, short of
spending £5,000 on an IBM PC XT or
Fortune 32: 16, a 64K Color Computer with
OS-9 provides the most fun you can have in
computing other than playing Defender.

Incidentally, OS-9 has a serious purpose:
to make available a substantial amount of
business software which runs under this
operating system. However, none was
available for review, and it is probably all
American anyway.

Conclusions

• On its own, the 64K Tandy Color
Computer is a moderately good home
micro with a number of serious limitations,
particularly in the screen display and lack
of lower-case letters*

• With the OS-9 operating system, the 64K
Color Computer becomes a powerful and
interesting machine which potentially
offers the serious user facilities far above its
price level.

• If OS-9 software becomes available, and
the Color Computer proves lug enough to
take it, this could give it serious business
applications.

• In any event, the wealth of error
messages, excellent assembler facilities and
Unix-like power make OS-9 far superior to
CP/M, and a valuable learning tool for
anyone interested in current developments
in operating systems.

• The 64K Color Computer will be

available from Tandy stores and computer
centres at a price to be announced. Contact
Tandy, Tameway Tower, Bridge Street,
Walsall, West Midlands. Telephone; (0922)
648181. 0

From the back it looks like a toy, but with discs it becomes something special*

Benchmarks

BM1 BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av

1.0 3.1 8.3 8,7 9,2 13,9 21.9 52.0 14.8

1.4 10.5 19.2 20,0 21.0 32.2 51.6 110.0 34.0

1.4 10.5 20.4 22.3 24.0 34.7 51.1 132.6 37.1

4.8 8,7 21.1 20,4 24.0 55,3 80.7 253.0 58.5

BBC Model B-65G2
Commodore 64*— 6510
Tandy 64K CoCo— 6809
Sinclair Spectrum— Z-80

•portable version

The 64K Color Computer is fast at writing to the screen, but the standard
Benchmarks show the Microsoft Basic running at its usual leisurely pace.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

65

LSI OCTOPUS

A new image and a massive promotion budget are to accompany the launch of
LSI’s business micro. Glyn Moody has been finding out what the fuss is about.

A LITTLE over a year ago, LSI computers
launched its M-Four, which combined
eight -bit and 16-bit CP/M operating
systems on one machine, implemented via
dual processors. At the time there was
plenty of tried and tested software for the
ageing CP/M-80 but too little for the up-
and-coming CP/M-86 to justify a leap of
faith in that direction. During this last year
things have moved on, and practical 16-bit
software is starting to come through* Any
system that can offer the best oT both
worlds is dearly attractive*

LSI has now extended the M-Four to
include a wide-ranging expandability while
adding CP/M Plus and Concurrent CP/M
in dual 86/80 form and MS-DOS* Since the
obvious name for the new product has been
pre-empted by Sord, the new machine has
been duly christened Octopus,

Hitherto LSI’s marketing people have
been content to maintain a fairly low
profile, and sales have grown quite
respectably on their own. However, the
Octopus is being launched with the full
treatment — Channel 4, no less — and an
overall publicity budget of over half a
million pounds.

It is big money for a firm that had sales
of £3.5 million in the year to June 1983, But
LSI forms part of the CPU group, which
has over five times the turnover and is
quoted on the Unlisted Securities Market.

The LSI range is sold through an interesting
mixture of 12 Franchises and a dealer
network.

Three-box format

The Octopus adapts the standard three-
box format ; the monitor and keyboard are
separate and there is a low, squarish main
unit in off-white polyurethane. On a desk
top it is a rather more manageable than its
predecessor.

The entry-level system includes one 400K
floppy disc and 128K RAM but no
monitor. It costs £1,530 plus VAT* The
first real usable option offers two 400K
floppies and a monitor, together with

bundled accounting software for £2,090.
Winchester options start at £3,290 for one
5Mbyte floppy.

Two hexagonal screws secure the back of
the main unit. A neat modular layout with
tidy wiring is to be found inside. Everything
possible is earthed, a feature which is
indicative of LSPs long-term plans. After
the British and European launches the
company intends to start marketing the
Octopus in the U,S., where stringent safety
regulations prevail.

The power supply occupies the left-hand
side of the unit, viewed from the front,
positioned next to a small fan and
loudspeaker. Two half-height Shugart
5,25in. floppies, or one floppy plus a

Benchmarks

The Octopus will be released with Digital Research’s Personal Basic as standard. It
was not available on the preview machine, so Microsoft Basic 80 Version 5.2 running
under Concurrent CP/M-86/80 was used* It requires about 24K of RAM. The full 16 bit
PBasic, when it comes, is unlikely to perform Benchmarks very much better. All
timings are in seconds.

BMt

BM2

BM3

BM4

BM5

b m

BM7

BM8

Av

HP Series 200 Model 16— 68000

0,2

0,6

1.4

1,6

1.7

2.8

4.3

15

3.4

Orion— 8086

0.6

2.1

4.8

4.9

5.8

10.5

16.7

13

7.3

Octopus Z-80/8Q88

0.8

2*5

7,5

7.4

7.9

13,6

21.9

38.5

12.5

IBM PC— 8088

1.2

4.8

11.7

12.2

13.4

23.3

37.4

30

16.9

The twin-floppy business system costs just over £2,000; other disc options range from a single 400 K floppy to a 40Mbyte Winchester.

66

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Review

letters, or you could reconstruct the
character set to include true lower case, but
in this day and age it should not be
necessary. It is not good enough, and that
applies for the 64K Dragon loo.

Powering-up reveals the familiar CoCo/
Dragon hideous green screen with black
letters, and only 32 characters by 1 6 rows of
text. The display is not as awful as that of
the Practical Computing Dragon, but most
current machines do better.

Only 24,871 bytes of RAM are free to
Basic. It seems that, again like the Dragon
64, the 64K CoCo is a 32K machine that
allows you to grab extra memory if you
want it. Unfortunately the review machine
had no documentation and l never
calculated how to do so. Typing Exec did
not work and on the 64K Dragon this gives
41,241 bytes free, which is more than the
Commodore 64, On the CoCo it crashed
the machine.

In its 32K mode, the CoCo has the same
good but slightly old-fashioned Microsoft
Extended Color Basic as before, and the
same rotten Microsoft line editor. Again,
this is not adequate by today’s standards.
Ataris have had full-screen editing since
1979, so Tandy and Dragon should be able
to offer it now too.

The Color Computer becomes a more
attractive machine when you plug a disc-
controller cartridge into the port on the
right-hand side, then plug in one or two disc
drives. Preferably two, because copying a
full disc with one drive involves five
insertions of the source disc and five
insertions of the destination disc.

With discs connected, the 64 K CoCo
offers 22,823 bytes free to Basic. The discs
take up less RAM than Atari discs, but
more than the Commodore 64 ones. Disc
operation is simple and straightforward,
though the drives are slow and noisy. The
regrettable thing is that, without warning,

the operating system writes over your old
files if you happen to use the same name as
an existing file. There is no friendly
Are you sure (Y/NJ?
or

Replace existing file?

The 64K CoCo eomes into its own after
booting the OS-9 disc-operating system,
which l had never used before, it was
written by Microware Systems Corporation
in America especially for the 6809 chip, and
was modelled on the Bell Labs Unix
operating system.

Anyone who is familiar with Unix, or the
Unix-like MS- DOS/PC- DOS version 2
from the IBM PC, will find OS-9 even
easier to use* Tandy’s excellent docu-
mentation comes in a slip case and con-
sists of one booklet Getting Started with
OS-9 plus three spiral- bound manuals.

Disc feature

OS-9 is on a single disc and the whole
package costs £69.95, It has many
sophisticated features normally found only
on very expensive machines of, say, £5,000
to £50,000. It has a kernel, a shell and a
hierarchical file structure, so you can
organise material in directories, sub-
directories and so on. It has device-
independent input and output, with Pipes
so that the output of one program can
become the input of another.

In Unix you can run several programs
simultaneously if you have enough
memory, by adding & to the command.
Similarly with OS-9 you can have multi-
user operation and hang an extra terminal
from the back of your Color Computer.
Pretty amazing for a toy home micro,

OS-9 allows Unix-like commands such as
dir ! sort >/P&

which does a file directory, sorts it and
sends it to the primer but hands the prompt

From the back it looks like a toy, but with discs it becomes something special.

Benchmarks

BM1

BM2

BM3

BM4

BM5

BM6

BM7

BM8

Av

BBC Model B— 6502

1.0

3.1

8.3

8,7

9.2

13.9

21.9

52.0

14.8

Commodore 64*— 6510

1.4

10.5

19.2

20.0

21.0

32.2

51.6

116.0

34.0

Tandy 64K CoCo— 6809

1.4

10.5

20.4

22,3

24.0

34.7

51.1

132.6

37.1

Sinclair Spectrum— Z-80

4.8

8.7

21,1

20.4

24.0

55,3

80.7 253.0

58,5

‘portable version

The 64 K Color Computer is fast at writing to the screen, but the standard
Benchmarks show the Microsoft Basic running at its usual leisurely pace.

back straightaway so that you can do
something else at the same time. Or, for
example,

dir >IP& list myfile& copy oldfile newfile:

del yourftle

sends a directory to the printer at the same
time as typing My file on the screen and,
concurrently, copying from the old file to
the new file. When that’s done it deletes
your file. It is all done by one command
line.

OS-9 comes with a good assembler, a texi
editor and an interactive debugger, so the
assembler programmer will be very happy
with it. There’s an OS-9 Basic too, not
supplied for review. The OS-9 prompt is
tedious, reading “OS-9” all the time.
However, you only have to type - P to kill it,
then remove the echo, and the environment
is so convincing that in a few minutes you
believe you are using Unix on a DEC mini
— except that you cannot browse through
Usenet, the anarchic message network.

The 64K CoCo is not perfect. Screen
width is a problem because of the way
copious directory information is wrapped
around. Also, Unix commands are
traditionally all lower case, so the CoCo’s
insistence on capitals only, mixed with
inverse capitals pretending to be lower case,
is a pain. Finally, the software-driven real-
time clock which OS-9 provides is
hopelessly inaccurate, being configured for
the American mains. Still, short of
spending £5,000 on an IBM PC XT or
Fortune 32: 16, a 64K Color Computer with
OS-9 provides the most fun you can have in
computing other than playing Defender.

Incidentally, OS-9 has a serious purpose:
to make available a substantial amouni of
business software which runs under this
operating system. However, none was
available for review, and it is probably all
American anyway.

Conclusions

• On its own, (he 64K Tandy Color
Computer is a moderately good home
micro with a number of serious limitations,
particularly in the screen display and lack
of lovrer-case letters.

• With the OS-9 operating system, the 64K
Color Computer becomes a powerful and
interesting machine which potentially
offers the serious user facilities far above its
price level,

• If OS-9 software becomes available, and
the Color Computer proves big enough to
take it, this could give it serious business
applications.

• In any event, the wealth of error
messages, excellent assembler facilities and
Unix-like power make OS-9 far superior to
CIVM, and a valuable learning tool for
anyone interested in current developments
in operating systems.

• The 64K Color Computer will be

available from Tandy stores and computer
centres at a price to be announced. Contact
Tandy, Tameway Tower, Bridge Street,
Walsall, West Midlands. Telephone: (09221
648181. ffl

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

65

LSI OCTOPUS

A new image and a massive promotion budget are to accompany the launch of
LSI’s business micro. Glyn Moody has been finding out what the fuss is about.

a little over a year ago, LSI computers
launched its M-Four, which combined
eight-bit and 16-bit CP/M operating
systems on one machine, implemented via
dual processors. At the time there was
plenty of tried and tested software for the
ageing CP/M-80 but too little for the up-
and-coming CP/M-86 to justify a leap of
faith in that direction. During this last year
things have moved on, and practical 16-bit
software is starting to come through. Any
system that can offer the best of both
worlds is clearly attractive.

LSI has now extended the M-Four to
include a wide-ranging expandability while
adding CP/M Plus and Concurrent CP/M
in dual 86/80 form and MS-DOS. Since the
obvious name for the new product has been
pre-empted by Sord, the new machine has
been duly christened Octopus.

Hitherto LSI’s marketing people have
been content to maintain a fairly low
profile, and sales have grown quite
respectably on their own. However, the
Octopus is being launched with the full
treatment — Channel 4, no less — and an
overall publicity budget of over half a
million pounds.

It is big money for a firm that had sales
of £3.5 million in the year to June 1983. But
LSI forms part of the CPU group, which
has over five times the turnover and is
quoted on the Unlisted Securities Market.

The LSI range is sold through an interesting
mixture of 12 franchises and a dealer
network.

Three-box format

The Octopus adapts the standard three-
box format: the monitor and keyboard are
separate and there is a low, squarish main
unit in off-white polyurethane. On a desk
top it is a rather more manageable than its
predecessor.

The entry-level system includes one 400K
floppy disc and 128K RAM but no
monitor. It costs £1,530 plus VAT. The
first real usable option offers two 400K
floppies and a monitor, together with

bundled accounting software for £2,090.
Winchester options start at £3,290 for one
5Mbyte floppy.

Two hexagonal screws secure the back of
the main unit. A neat modular layout with
tidy wiring is to be found inside. Everything
possible is earthed, a feature which is
indicative of LSI’s long-term plans. After
the British and European launches the
company intends to start marketing the
Octopus in the U.S., where stringent safety
regulations prevail.

The power supply occupies the left-hand
side of the unit, viewed from the front,
positioned next to a small fan and
loudspeaker. Two half-height Shugart
5.25in. floppies, or one floppy plus a

Benchmarks

The Octopus will be released with Digital Research’s Personal Basic as standard. It
was not available on the preview machine, so Microsoft Basic-80 Version 5.2 running
under Concurrent CP/M-86/80 was used. It requires about 24K of RAM. The full 16-bit
PBasic, when it comes, is unlikely to perform Benchmarks very much better. All
timings are in seconds.

BM1 BM2 BM3 BM4 BM5 BM6 BM7 BM8 Av

HP Series 200 Model 16— 68000

0.2

0.6

1.4

1.6

1.7

2.8

4.3

15

3.4

Orion— 8086

0.6

2.1

4.8

4.9

5.8

10.5

16.7

13

7.3

Octopus Z-80/8088

0.8

2.5

7.5

7.4

7.9

13.6

21.9

38.5

12.5

IBM PC-8088

1.2

4.8

11.7

12.2

13.4

23.3

37.4

30

16.9

66

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Preview

Winchester, are mounted in the front.
Along the back of the unit you find: a
socket for the serial keyboard input; a
parallel I/O, which is a superset of the
Centronics port; two RS-232C ports; a
TTL output that connects to an RGB
monitor or TV set VHF input; and a
composite-video monochrome plug. There
is a tiny Reset button — no danger of
accidentally pressing it. Finally there is the
mains input, along with a socket to allow
the monitor to be powered from the
Octopus itself.

Inside, the motherboard nestles partly
under the disc units at the front, and is
mounted so as to slide out as a single unit.
The PCB itself is of an advanced multi-
layer construction which allows very neat
and compact board layout, and reduces
circuit noise. It is populated in Scotland.
The few wires and piggybacks visible
would, I was assured, be incorporated on to
the main board for the production models.

The two processors are an Intel 8088-2
running at 8MHz and a Zilog Z-80B at
6MHz. The standard model comes with
128K plus parity. A 32K EPROM contains

the system firmware, and there is room for
another. Ah 8087 maths co-processor chip
cay be piggybacked into the 8088 slot as an
extra. There is a real-time clock powered
by a rechargeable battery. It lasts about 3 \
weeks when the Octopus is switched off.

One striking feature of the board is the
large expansion slot towards the back, next
to the I/O ports and circuitry. It is perhaps
the key element of the Octopus and its
philosophy. A superset of the Multibus
system is used, and up to four expansion
boards can be progressively stacked on top
of each other. One card mates via a
bridging piece with the bus slot beneath and
provides a similar slot for further
expansion. The bus effectively flows
through the additional boards.

Options include a communications
board with four RS-232C and one RS-422
ports. Extra RAM up to 512K and an
Arcnet-type LAN will also be available. A
graphics board allowing a 325-by-800
resolution and a BT-approved internal
modem are al$o promised. LSI is
encouraging third-party suppliers to add to
this range.

The keyboard is connected via a 14ft.
coiled cord which plugs into the rear of the
Octopus. LSI offers a straight IBM look-
alike keyboard — even down to the tedious
Backslash key where Shift should be.
Alternatively, you can have a slimmed-
down version of the popular M-Four word-
processing keyboard which has no fewer
than 32 programmable function keys. This
may sound like overkill but it can be put to
good use.

The LSI-supplied monochrome monitor
is a 12in. Panasonic which uses a P-34 green
phosphor. A colour option is fitted as
standard on the Octopus, so colour
monitors of varying resolution are also
available. Other features include a sound
channel installed as firmware, and
provision for a cartridge tape back-up. A
mouse will be available later.

On powering-up, the machine goes into a
self-diagnostic routine. The screen shows
the following in succession:

Testing . . .

Main Processor
PROM

DMA Controllers
RAM

Interrupt Controllers
Floppy discs

Any intelligent option boards present on
the expansion bus show up in a similar way.

The system may be reset at any time
by pressing Control, Shift and Delete
simultaneously — the sarhe three-key
system as the IBM. After the diagnostic
routine the Octopus gives a choice of
booting up the Winchester or the floppy.
Four operating systems are available:
CP/M, MP/M, MS-DOS and the
company’s proprietary system Elsie. After
you select a disc the system searches for all
bootable systems and then presents a menu
of options.

Since CP/M-86/80 and MP/M-86/80
have been available for some time on the
M-Four, the most interesting developments
on the Octopus are the LSI versions of
CP/M Plus and Concurrent CP/M for the
dual-processor architecture. The CP/M
Plus running on the preview machine was
only the beta-test version, though evidently
Digital Research has assured LSI that the
final release is to be available “real soon
now”. It will then form the basic operating
system offered as standard on the Octopus.

Loading CP/M Plus produces the
following screen output:

Available Drives

A:W

B:W

C:LH drive 48 tpi automatic
M:128K memory
P:patchable format

This shows a floppy and Winchester
system where the hard disc has been
partitioned by system software into two
( continued on next page)

Construction is of a high standard, with an eye to U.S. regulations.

Buyers have a choice of keyboards, including an IBM PC look-alike.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

67

{confirmed from previous page }

drives A: and R:. Drive C: is the 400K
floppy drive to the left of the Winchester
unit.

Drive M: represents the virtual disc
storage allocated in RAM by CP/M Pius t
and the 128K its total extent. With a 256K
system, 128K is normally allocated as a
RAM disc, and the remaining I28K then
serves as normal RAM,

The P: drive refers to a patchable format
option. The physical drive C: is set up to
read IBM PC and LSI disc formats
automatically. Using the configurable P:
drive, practically any other disc format —
except the Sirius — can be read by
specifying the relevant parameters using the
Parmgen command.

This is a standard routine supplied as
part of the 370K of system utilities. The
version that I saw also allowed scroll speed
to be varied from a gentle flow to a
hiccoughing line-jump. Various display-
width and colour options may also be set.
The final version will have the command
structure for matching the P: drive's
parameters to other disc formats, either via
menus or directly.

Two other useful utilities are included
with the Octopus. Keygen allows the 32
function keys to be programmed via a series
of menus. The program detects auto-
matically whether the keyboard is of IBM
or LSI type and adjusts the options
accordingly. An obvious choice is the set of
standard WordStar commands, and
booting CP/M Plus sets them as default.
LSI produces a keyboard overlay for

Specification

CPU: Intel 8088-2 and Z-80B

RAM: 128K, expandable to 768K

Portability: typical main unit weighs
151b.; a carrying case is available

Size: main unit is 15.7in. deep by 17Jin.
wide by 5.7in. high

Display: monochrome 12in. allowing 80
columns x 25 lines or 132 columns x
29 lines, characters are formed on 12
x nine and 11 x six matrices
respectively

Keyboard: detachable; choice of IBM-
type or LSI word-processing model

Interfaces: Centronics-type parallel port;
two RS-232Cs

Discs: one or two 5,25in. Shugart half-
height floppies, formatted capacity
400K per drive; BOOK optional;
Winchester discs of 4, 10, 20 and
40Mbyte available

Software in price: CP/M Plus 86/80 and
Personal Basic from Digital Research;
Axis accounting package with
business system

Hardware options: expansion boards for
RAM, communications, internal
modem, and networking; also 8087
maths co-processor

Manufacturer: LSI Ltd, St John's,

Woking, Surrey. Telephone: (04862)
23411

ILK, prices: E2,090 for 128K system
comprising screen, keyboard, twin disc
drives plus Axis software

people using the function keys in this way.

The Fonigen command allows whole
character sets to be set up and modified.
The Octopus comes with two standard files
of founts, for 80-character screen width,
and a narrower one for 132-character
display. Up to 256 characters can be
defined in two blocks of 128. Using simple
menus of instructions, new characters can
be defined or old ones modified.

Attractive

In 80-column formal the character is
displayed as a blown-up 13-by-nine pixel
representation. Moving around this grid
with the cursor-control pad, individual
pixels can then be added or expunged.
Working with the 132-column fount the
character is formed on an II -by-six pixel
grid. The founts can then be stored and
loaded at any time. This whole feature is
very attractive and well implemented.

Similar options are available on the
Concurrent CP/M-86/80 system. It is fully
operational now, but because it requires
about I28K of RAM Concurrent CP/M is
not supported on machines with less than
25 6K RAM; the recommended level is
5I2K, CP/M Plus, by contrast, takes only
40K including buffer and command
interpreter, most of which is separate from
the 64K directly addressable by the Z-80
under CP/M.

The Octopus uses the 8088 as a slave to
the Z-80. All I/O is handled by the 16- bit
processor and so is coded exclusively in
8088 instructions. Only about 2K of the
Z-80's precious 64K address space is
therefore taken up by systems software.
This arrangement also enhances response
times — so much so that LSI says well
tested eight-bit implementations of
applications software are often still
preferred to bug- ridden 16-bit upgrades.
WordStar is a case in point.

Concurrent CP/M is signalled by an A>
prompt for User 0, and 1 A> for User I —
up to 3A> for user 3, A status line appears
at the bottom of the screen. One of the neat
uses of concurrency is to allow different
levels of operation at the same time. For
example, while modifying one fount using
Fontgen, quick reference can be made to
another, simply at the touch of a key.
CP/M listings of a directory can be checked
for the presence or otherwise of files while a
WordStar file is read or modified. Eight-
bit and 16-bit programs can be run
concurrently on the different virtual
screens.

MP/M-86/80 supports the same
operations with the addition of multi-user
capability. Up to six intelligent terminals
can be hooked up to the system via the
RS-232Cs, though quite what the response
would be is another matter. The system
showed no obvious degradation with two
users and, like Concurrent CP/M, allowed
eight-bit and 16-bit software to be mixed. A
multi-user concurrent version is also
promised.

Preview

As in the case of CP/M Plus, LSI is still
rather waiting on Digital Research for the
networking option. The promised DR Net
— a system like Arenet that uses token-
passing to give priority for transmission to
each machine in turn — will apparently
look like a distributed MP/M system
with concurrency. The speed is about
2.5Mbit/second.

The basic system includes CP/M Plus
86/80 and Digital Research's Personal
Basic, The £2,090 business system comes
with an accounting, invoicing and stock-
control package called Axis. For an extra
£295 you can buy the Oetosoft range of
software. It consists of Plannercalc, a fairly
cheap and rather idiosyncratic spreadsheet
system; Lexicom, a menu-driven word-
processor; and Rescue a well thought of
database package. Clearly LSI felt the need
to offer the canonical three applications,
but this seems rather a motley bunch. The
manuals for each are reasonably full if
unexcitingly produced.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said of
the manual for the Octopus itself. One slim
A5-size ring -bound volume introduces the
machine, CP/M-80/86 Plus and Personal
Basic. There is no index. Too much is
assumed for it to be much use to a beginner ,
and it is too skimpy for the practised user.
When the basic product is so well thought-
out it seems a shame to spoil the ship with
such flimsy documentation.

Conclusions

• The Octopus is a well designed machine.
It is soundly based in established
technology but also incorporates some
original features.

• The dual -processor architecture is a real
gain, in terms of both present performance
and future upgrading.

• Perhaps the most significant feature of
the Octopus is its versatile expansion bus. A
small business could safely buy the machine
secure in the knowledge that upgrade paths
will be readily available,

• With its wide range of operating systems,
the Octopus is well placed to benefit from
new software as it comes through. The
systems software includes useful extra
utilities like Parmgen and Fontgen,

• The bundled accounting software is a
poor choice for a system which is otherwise
well suited to the business user. It would be
far better to make the price even more
competitive, and allow end-users to choose
their own application software. Businesses
are no longer content to accept any old
system. The Oetosoft package is also
unexciting.

• The Octopus user manual is a dis-

appointment, though LSI has promised
a revision. Manuals represent potentially
the most important link with the user and
should he as full and easy to understand as
possible. When LSI produces a worthy
companion to its machine, the Octopus will
represent a good buy. fH

68

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

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Tel. 0925541 17
Telex 629279 UMfCRQG

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PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

• Circle No. 164

69

SEIKO 8600

Multi-user systems seem attractive — as long as software is there to run
them. We put the Seiko to the test and Glyn Moody discovered it to be a
practical proposition for business use.

the entry price for the Seiko Series 8600
micro is £3,587 plus VAT for a 16-bit
machine with 128K RAM and one 655K
floppy. So it is hardly cheap, but then
neither is it really representative. The Series
8600 is designed as a multi-user system for
small professional offices and businesses.

A more realistic starting price would be
£5 t 27Q for two users. That includes one
floppy and one 10Mbyte Winchester with
256K RAM, in addition to the two
terminals with keyboards. Three-user
options start from £8,256.

The hardware for the 8600 U produced in
Japan. The systems software in America,
from a company called Seicom which
is jointly owned by Seiko and Science
Management Corporation. Sole dis-
tribution rights in the U.K. are held by
Intelligence Distribution Ltd. The plan is to
sell the 8600 through a network of 80
dealers.

We reviewed here a two-user system with
20Mbyte Winchester. Physically, it is
arranged as the natural progression from
the IBM three-box configuration: one
central processing unit connected to two
terminals, each with a separate keyboard
and VDU.

The squat rectangular box of the central
unit has two convenient recesses in Its base
for easy lifting. At the front, to the left, is
the floppy and next to that the Winchester.
At the back you find the mains input socket
and On/Off switch, printer port, four
RS-232Cs and a recessed Reset button.

Two simple locks at the top of this back
panel release the upper lid.

The interior layout is almost spartan,
chiefly because of the total invisibility of
the motherboard with its 8086 processor.
The board is tucked away safely in a
separate compartment underneath; access
is difficult, though not explicitly forbidden.
By contrast, the disc-drive units are a model
of easy installation and removal. The
excellent blow-by-blow account in the
manual gives full details ™ with
illustrations — of which wire to put where.
Good design means that it is practically
impossible to hook anything up incorrectly.

Three extra 128K RAM cartridges take
the total RAM to 512K and are similarly
easy to load. A fourth slot is for commu-

nications. Although the hardware is
available now, the software that will allow
direct mainframe interfacing and terminal
emulation — all at a cool 300Kbaud — has
not yet been produced. The power unit is
sealed off in a further separate compart-
ment, with a small, fan opening on to the
main recess containing the discs.

The !2in. monitor with standard P-31
$reen phosphor is set in a swivel unit that
can be locked in various tilted positions. At
the back there is a printer port, an RS-232C
interface connecting it to the main unit,
some Dip switches setting baud rates, and
the keyboard port.

The keyboard is equipped with standard
QWERTY-layoui keys, a numeric pad with
separate Enter key and cursor controls, and

Benchmarks

Timings are in seconds. Those for the Seiko were produced from the eight standard
routines — see last month s issue — written in Basic-86 running under MP/M. It is
perhaps not surprising that running the Benchmarks simultaneously on two
terminals took about twice as long as running one terminal only. What is surprising
is that running the Benchmarks while the second terminal supported Basic, but ran
no program, produces almost identical figures. This is a result of Basic's constant
keyboard interrogation, which uses the central processor.

BM1

BM2

BM3

BM4

BMS

BM6

BM7

BM8

Av

OEM Orion — 8086

0.6

2.1

4,8

4.9

5.8

10.5

16.7

13.0

7.3

Seiko 8600 — 8086
single user

1.2

4.0

8.7

8.6

10.3

19.1

29.7

23.7

13.2

two users

2.4

8.4

17.6

18.0

20.7

39.0

60.5

47.8

26.8

IBM PC — 8088

1.2

4.8

11.7

12.2

13.4

23.3

37.4

30.0

16.8

70

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Review

Modular construction permits easy replacement of major components.

a host of defined and definable functions.
Common keys like Esc and Ctrl are joined
by others such as Tpwr and Gl/GO* Tpwr
switches on Typewriter mode: pressing any
ken then produces lower case, and pressing
a key with Shift held down gives the upper
case or typewriter equivalent. Its setting is
signalled by a built-in LED. The G1/G0
key then produces lower case, and pressing
character sets available on the terminal,
also has an LED warning. The default
option GO is the standard American ASCII
set. When G1 is pressed each key produces
a graphics symbol which closely resembles
Sumerian cuneiform. Perhaps this forms
part of some far-sighted marketing plan.
Apart from the 10 function keys, there is
also a range of edit function keys, used for
on-screen editing.

The monitors with their keyboards are
no mere dumb terminals. Each set comes
complete with an 8085 processor and a
large 64K memory used for buffering, and
for local activity independent of the main
processor. The overall feel of the keyboard
is slightly shallow, but generally acceptable.
That this is a high-quality unit is reflected in
the price of £1,493 for a complete user
upgrade — though this also includes a plug-
in 128K RAM expansion for the main unit.

Diagnostic checks

On powering-up, the user 0 terminal
identifies itself as part of the Seiko 8600
computer system, and then goes into a
hardware diagnostic routine. The machine
then normally requests specification of a
disc drive from which it could boot the
operating system. On the review machine,
part of the partitioned Winchester had been
set as the default.

When using the 8600 machine, one of the
first things you notice is that keystrokes
beep, which is rather trying for those of us
who have been conditioned over the years
to regard beeps as tantamount to input
errors. Happily, the Seiko’s rich set of
control sequences allows, among other
things, the keyboard to be silenced.

Control sequences are entered as a string
of characters following the Esc key.
Although they can in theory be entered at
any point in a computation, you run the
risk of them being misinterpreted by the
central processor which could then lock
itself into something nasty. Seiko has
devised a clever system of isolating the
terminals for such set-up sequences, so you
should be able to stay out of trouble.

Pressing the Shift and Set-up keys
simultaneously calls up a 25tli line to the
screen display, which is normally 80
columns by 24 lines. The extra line is the
status line, and is divided into 16 sections.
By using the cursor controls it is possible to
change the option for the terminal by
pressing the Set-up key until the desired
function appears. Thus smooth scroll may
be replaced by jump scroll, auto repeat set
on or off, baud rates may be adjusted and,
most relevantly for the Esc command

Terminals are connected via RS-232 links;
a Centronics interlace ts also provided.

sequences, the relationship of the terminal
with the main processor can be altered.

Apart from full-duplex and half-duplex
modes, the terminal can be made purely
local. Then any characters generated at the
keyboard are sent to the screen but not the
main processor* There is also a blocking
option which allows an entire screenful of
input to be built up at a terminal, and then
sent all in one go to the 8086 processor
when you press the Send key.

You should choose Local mode when
using the Esc set-up codes. They are entered
without any echo on the screen —
something the manual omits to mention.
You press Shift and Set-up once more to

Up to three 128K RAM packs drop into
purpose-designed sockets.

remove the status line and return to the
current program. Using this very powerful
facility practically every aspect of the
terminal can be modified: screen mode may
be set to blinking or double width; windows
can be created, the keyboard disabled, and
so on. The manual is commendably clear in
this generous facility.

The manual is generally well produced
and clearly written with plenty of diagrams
and examples* It includes two glossaries
and a list of Do’s and Don’ts. Although it
could have been slightly less technical, and
so less offputting for the first-time user, its
main fault is the lack of an index.

( continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February W84

71

Multi-user MP/M-86

Judging by the flood of new machines, 1983 was the year
of the 16-bits. Signs are that “multi-user” will be one of
the catch phrases of 1984. This is partly a natural
consequence of the new processors: for example, multi-
tasking is an automatic option for the Motorola 68000
running under Xenix. But now, even the humble CP/M is
offered in its Concurrent form — a kind of poor man’s
multi-user system.

MP/M is Digital Research’s full multi-tasking operating
system. As such it shares many of the features and
infelicities of CP/M. Apart from standard utilities such as
Dir, Era, Pip and Type there are a number of new features
specific to the multi-user environment.

The first distinction to be made is between user and
console. Each physical terminal is allocated a number
from 0 to 15.. The system console is designated 0, and it
Is here that the main bootstrap messages appear. The
physical console number plays no visible role during use;
it is merely used by the computer for housekeeping
purposes.

Independently of the console number, each terminal
may be assigned a user number from 0 to 15. The
maximum number of users, as opposed to consoles,
under MP/M is 16. The user number refers to the space
allocated on ail the disc drives, whether floppies or
partitioned Winchesters. Each file is stored with an
attached user number and only those pertaining
to the user at the terminal may be accessed.

On booting up, the user number on each console is set
by convention to the physical console number: user 0 on
console 0, user 1 on console 1 and so on. The user
number may be changed at any time by means of the
User command: keying User 6, for example, sets the
current user to 6. Unlike physical console numbers,
which are unique, user numbers may be shared between
different consoles. Thus two consoles may be logged

into user 1 for example, and they may both access user
1’s files on any drive.

Certain files from other users’ disc drives can also be
tapped. Any file can be stored with one of two attributes:
Dir and Sys. Dir locks the file into the particular user’s
area on the disc: only the specified user may accqss it. If
the file is stored with the Sys attribute by user 0 — but
not other users — then other users may also gain
access. Files which are generally available are systems
files, hence the name, and provide general utilities like
Dir and Era which are needed by all users.

Information on the attributes of a file can be obtained
from an extended Dir command, calld SDir. This detailed
directory gives the number of bytes and records taken up
by the tile and the attributes of the file such as Dir / Sys,
Read / Write.

Although users may only access files in their own user
area, it is easy to switch user number. So in real
environments password protection is vital if access to
sensitive files is to be limited. Entire discs or individual
files, including command files, can be protected and at
three levels: read-, write- or delete- protected. To set a
local password, a global password for the entire system
must first be entered. This may sound labyrinthine, but in
fact is only logical. If the password-setting command
structure were accessible to all users, the password
option on all files could then be turned off.

Booting-up MP/M on the review machine produced a
main boot message on console 0 and user 0, and a
subsidiary signal on console 1 and user 1. The prompts
tor the two terminals are respectively 0A> and 1A>,
which signals the user numbers and drive, A being one
of two partitions on the Winchester. The prompt P: is
obtained when using the floppy drive. Drives are
changed, as in CP/M, by entering the appropriate letter
followed by a colon.

(continued from previous page)

Seiko’s prices do not include any
bundled software. Since the 8600 runs
MP/M, CP/M-86 and MS-DOS, with the
new Oasis- 1 6 operating system promised,
there should be no shortage of software.
Cis-Cobol is also supported, allowing
access to a wide range of business
programs. The main problem is the lack of
true multi-user products.

Conclusions

• The Seiko 86(H) represents a well
thought-out and well produced system.

• As a one-user option, it is not cheap. The

full benefits are only obtained with two or
three users.

• Naturally, with more users, the response
time begins to falter. The Seiko is not suited
to solid multi-user processing, but is ideal
for professional or business use where two
or three terminals are accessed frequently.

• The user-definable characteristics of the
terminals are very impressive, if slightly
superfluous for the intended end-market.

• There is no bundled software, so a
working system will cost more than the
prices quoted. For example MP/M costs
£475 plus VAT.

• An otherwise excellent manual is flawed

by its lack of an index, making it
unnecessarily hard to use. [J]

Each user can have a separate printer, connected direct to the terminal.

Specification

CPU: Intel 8086, 16-bit running at
RAM: 128K P expandable at
Dimensions: main unit is 191 n
61 n. high by 16,5in. deep
Display: 12m., 25-line by 80-unarat
CRT; character matrix 10 by 14;
character sets supplied includfr
ASCII, various cursor modes

Keyboards: Detached 100-key „

10 programmable function
18-key auxiliary pad
function keys
Interfaces: tour RS-232C
type printer Interface,
has one RS432C and primer interface
Discs: one or two 5.2Sin. double-sided
double-density 655K formatted;
10Mbyte and 20Mbyte hard discs
optional .

MP/M, MS-DOS,
and applications
t included in price
ns: communications
without operating

•ndon SW19
13 3711
serj

72

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

We handle one of
the largest ranges of CP/M
Software in the country. And since
our range covers most of the major
formats and is available off-the-shelf,
the delivery is equally impressive.

But we don’t stop there. After all
it’s no good having a large range if we
don’t handle it professionally. That’s
why we produce no less than a
68 page catalogue, full of information
about our entire range. Back this up

Software

Limited

CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research

with honest and friendly
advice, and we believe that we can
offer a helping hand you won't find
anywhere else.

Software Limited... Because
there’s more to choose
from, we’re the only
choice to make.

01-833 1173/6

Software Limited

No. 2 Alice Owen Technology Centre
251 Goswell Road, London EC1

NEC PC-8201

Chris Bidmead looks at the latest lap portable in the Kyocera family.

towards the end of 1982 the Epson
HX-20 blazed a trail into a new market for
briefcase-size computers. An ambitious
machine, it is in many ways still the most
interesting of what have become known as
lap portables. However, it has suffered in
comparison with newcomers such as the
Tandy Model 100, the Olivetti M-10 and
the NEC PC-8201 A which offer a screen of
40 characters by eight lines, instead of the
Epson’s poky 20-character by four-line
LED display.

Regular readers of Practical Computing
will notice that we are tracking the
development of these machines closely,
with reviews of the Tandy 100 in the August
issue, and the Olivetti M-10 in December. I
suspect this is because lap portables, with
their emphasis on word processing on the
move, hold particular interest for
journalists.

Their price of around £500 for a 16K
model and their inability to hook up to a
colour TV distinguish them sharply from
home computers like the Vic-20 that they
resemble physically. Nevertheless, they do
represent a class of machine that is going to
be mass produced in such quantities that
prices will fall quickly.

Differences

The striking similarity between the three
successors to the HX-20 is not accidental.
They are all versions of the same design
from the Japanese firm of Kyocera, which
built the original and sold it to NEC. But
although they are all based on the same
kernel hardware, and run similar software
from Microsoft, the machines are certainly
distinct from one another. Negotiations
between Tandy, NEC and Kyocera have
resulted in complex trading agreements,
with the outcome that NEC is permitted to
market its own version, the NEC 8201, in
the U.K.

Comparisons with the more widely
available Tandy Model 100 are inevitable.
The wedge-shape of the NEC makes it
significantly bigger. The increase in
physical size does two things for the NEC:
it allows for a comprehensive collection of
I/O ports at the rear; and it makes room for
a large cartridge socket on the left-hand
side which is closed by a spring-loaded flap
when out of use.

Another noticeable feature is the cluster
of sizeable and geographically oriented
cursor keys instead of the miniature in-line
keys of the Tandy. Otherwise, the basic
QWERTY arrangement is identical, with
changes being confined to the function keys
and more esoteric computer keys. On the

NEC the function keys are larger and
fewer, from eight down to five, although
they operate as 10 keys since, with the help
of Shift, each one does double duty.

The Tandy has a ghost numeric keypad
that allows the three rows of keys
immediately below the 7, 8 and 9 on the top
row to serve for numeric entry with the
Num key locked down. On the NEC this
arrangement has been omitted, and so has
the Code key that permits access to foreign
characters.

As in the other Kyocera machines, 32K
of the address space is occupied now by
ROM, with a further 16K of RAM — 8K on
the Tandy — being sold as standard. Also
like them, the memory size can be
upgraded. The Kyocera CPU is an 80C85,
the CMOS low-power version of the 8085
and a close relative of the ubiquitous Z-80.
RAM enhancement ought to stop at 32K
since 32K RAM plus 32K ROM makes 64K.
But the NEC allows bank-switching of the
RAM segment, which allows you to go on
adding RAM internally up to a maximum
of 64K.

The flap-covered cartridge socket is
designed to take a further 32K in the form
of a CMOS RAM pack with its own
batteries, which appears to the system as a
third banked-out segment. This is one of
the exciting aspects of the NEC, allowing
you to create text or collect data in the

Specification

CPU: OKI 80C85 running at 2.4MHz
ROM: 32K Microsoft Basic with Telcom
and Text

RAM: 16K standard, expandable to 96K
Size: 300mm. by 215mm. by 61mm.
Weight: 1.7kg. approx
Power four AA batteries in
interchangeable battery pack or
optional NiCad rechargeable pack and
recharger; additional built-in NiCads
for back-up

Display: 40 characters x eight lines
LCD; 64 x 240 dot addressable
graphics

Keyboard: full-size QWERTY; five dual
programmable function keys,
operating as 10 geographically
oriented cursor keys
Interfaces: eight-pin DIN cassette;
RS-232, programmable for 75-19,200
baud; Centronics printer; HP-
compatible bar-code reader; S-101 and
S-102 reserved for future use, system
slot for RAM cartridge
Software: 25-program cassettes supplied
as standard in addition to ROM-based
software

Manufacturer. Kyocera, Japan for NEC
U.K. distributor NEC (U.K.) Ltd

74

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Review

Communications are well catered for with a variable baud-rate RS-232 interface.

ROIVTbased software plugs into a socket on the side, as does up to 32K of RAM.

RAM pack, detach it and despatch it back
to base. One obstacle is that the RAM pack
is not available yet; a further obstacle is the
price. The pocket-size RAM packs each
cost as much as a cheap dot-matrix primer,
so you will probably settle for downloading
data to a cassette machine.

All three new lap portables offer
variations on the same suite of built-in
software from Microsoft. Microsoft Basic
is supplied burnt in to the ROM, but
surprisingly it is not the same Basic across
all the machines. NEC has said goodbye to
the SCHDL and ADDRSS programs that
on the Tandy and Olivetti are integral with
the machine. The additional space is used
to offer more comprehensive Basic, closer
to GWBasic now appearing on all the new
16 -bit hardware.

The word processor Text was covered in
detail in the August 1983 issue of Practical
Computing. SCHDL and ADDRSS are
elementary database programs that act as
diary plus name-and-address book respect-
ively, They offer nothing that you could
not knock up for yourself using the Find
facility in Text, bui NEC provides them in
Basic in the Personal Application Kit — a
cassette of 25 programs of varying utility.

Be warned that applications programs
are not necessarily transportable across
these superficially similar machines. Trans-
fer rate and coding differences in the
cassette interfaces make it impossible to get
data from a Tandy cassette on to an NEC
machine, and vice versa,

A machine of this sort can be expected to
make heavy use of the RS-232 interface in
communication with non-portables. All ihe
Kyoceras come with a terminal emulating
program that allows you to configure the
baud rate and transfer Tiles, Unfortunately,
ihe XOn/XOff handshaking did not work
convincingly, and I had difficulty matching
baud rates.

One advantage of the NEC is the way it
lets you carry out file housekeeping at the
level of the menu presented at start-up. All
you have to do is push a few function keys,
using the cursor to identify files you want to
delete or rename. Saving to and from
cassette can be done interactively at this
level. This is more convenient than the way
the T andy requires you to go into Basic and
write out the Basic commands in full.

Conclusions

m The NEC is functionally very similar to
Ihe Olivetti M-10 and the Tandy Model
100, being from the same manufacturer
Kyocera*

• It is significantly cheaper than the
Tandy. The basic 16K NEC costs £475 and
the SK Tandy costs £499.

• Unique in its class, it can be enhanced up
to 96K, equivalent to 12,000 words of text.

• The doubt hanging over the serial comms

line is unfortunate. Like others who have
mentioned this problem, I cannot swear it
was useless heeause of the complexities of
the RS-232 standard. E3

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

75

BBC Microcomputer System

OFFICIAL BBC

COMPUTER

DEALER

This * the best microcomputer Currently 0 « the market 32K RAM 32K ROM 8
modes of operation full colour full we keyboard internal expansions such as
disc interface speech synthesis Econet interface - In short it is a personal
computer capable of expanding mto a sman business system

B8C Microcompuiet Model B

£348

VAI

£399 00

BBC Mod B • d<sk interlace

£409

VAt

£469 00

BBC Mod 8 • Econet interface

£389

VAT

£447 35

BBC Mod B • disk and Econei interlaces

£450

• VAT

£517 50

BBC 100K disk dnve

£230

VAT

£264 00

BBC dual BOOK diskdrive

£699

VAT

£803 85

Torch 280 disk pack including 280 2nd processor

64K RAM and CPN

operating

system ♦ Free Perfect Software

£699

VAT

£803 85

BBC Teieterf receiver (Aug)

£196

■ VAT

£225 40

BBC cassette recorder and lead

£26

• VAT

£29 90

Oisk interface M (free Mtmg)

£86

. VAI

£96 60

Mod A to Mod B upgrade M

£50 ■

■ VAT

£57 50

Fitting cha*ge fo» A to B upgrade M

£20

VAT

£23 00

16K memory upgrade M

£20

VAT

£23 00

Games paddies

fit

VAT

£12 65

12 Monochrome monitor «ncl cable

£89

■ VAT

£102 35

16 Colour monitonncl cable

£209

■ VAT

£240.35

User guide

£10

VAT

£10 00

Econet interface |t»ee titling)

£60

VAT

£69 00

Speech interface ifree iifingi

£47

• VAT

CS4 05

BBC disk manual • lorraafing drsk

£30

VAI

£34 50

ParaHei printer cable

£10

■ VAT

£11 50

BBC word processor iviewi

£52

VAT

£59 80

BBC Fourth language cassette

£15

VAT

£1725

BBC lisp language cassette

£15

• VAT

C17.25

100% BBC COMPATIBLE MITSUBISHI
AND TEAC SLIMLINE DISK DRIVES

These dnves are supplied ready cased with an the necessary cables to»maimg
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There are some useful utilities included eg Epson Screen Oump Program
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these drives «S very low |0 ?A typ at • 1?V 0 4V fyp at 5V per drive) Power
is taken trom the BBC computer

Single drive 100K40lrackS £169 > VAT - £194.35

Dual drive 200K 40 backs £329 • VAT £378.35

S ngle drive 400K 00 Hacks £239 4 VAT - £274.35

s-ngle drive 400K 40 00 backs swilchabte £259 VAT £297 05

Dual dnve BOOK 60 tracks £449 • VAT £516 35

Dual dnve 800K 40 80 backs switchabie £469 • VAT £539 35

❖

COMPLETE WORD PROCESSOR
FOR ONLY £1,099 + VAT

*

Tfus package consists ol BBC Microcomputer View wordprocessor 400K
Slimline disc drive High resolution 1? Green monitor Juki 6*00 »8C PS Daisy
Wheel pr.nte* and a'l the necessary cables and documentation Ti* above
package can be supplied with components of your own cno«ce e q 800K disc
drive or a different printer Please phone us for a puce io« your particular
reQuirement

Special package deal Cl 099 • VAT £1.263 85

PROFESSIONAL MONITORS

GREEN MOKITOR!

12“ Green screen monitors w»th composite and sync input Suitable tor most
computers

* IB MH/ band width high resolution £89 • VAT £102.35

* 15 MHz band widlh normal resolution £69 • VAT £79 35

COLOUR MONITORS

* MfCROVlTEC RGB input 14 • monitor suppled with RGB lead lor BBC

£209 • VAT - £240.35

* SANYO SCM 14 Normal res 14 400 dots RGB input Supplied with RGB

*ad £199 + VAT - £228 85

* SANYO SCM I4M Medium res 14 600 dots RGB input supplied with RGB

lead £299 • VAT 043 85

* SANYO SCM 1 4H High res 14 800 dots RGB input supplied wdh RGB lead

£399 + VAT - £458 85

EPS

RJ1 FOR RELIABILITY

EPSON FXM: 80 column 160 CPS normal italic and elite characters ?56u.ei
definable c. taclers superscript subscript It n 9 matrix b>-directi >nai logic
seeking hi res bit image printing i960 x 8 dots line) tnction and i nleed 9
international character sets Centromc parallel interlace
FX80 PRICE £349 4 VAT - £401 35

EPSON RX80 80 column 100 CPS normal >ial»C and efite .i-ara le'S It
international character sets hi res bit image punting b< drreclio- ai to jic
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RX80 PRICE £239 4 VAT * £274 84

MX 100 136 column, 100 CPS. friction and tractor feed, up to 15" ad|ustable
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MX 100 PRICE £399 4 VAT = £458 85

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Roll holder lor FX80 £12 • VAT £13 80

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Ribbon for MX 100 £12 • VAT £13 SO

SEIKOSHA
DOTMATRIX
PRINTERS WITH
HIGH-RES
GRAPHICS

GP 100 A 80 column 50 CPS dol addressable hi res graphics. 10 wide tut'/
adiustabte traclor iced 2 < s punt matrix Centromc parallel interlace
GP-100A50CPS PRICE ft 75 • VAT £201.25

GP 250X 80 co'umn 50 CPS TO wide lu'iy adjustable tractor feed true
descenders 64 user definable character:, double height and or double width
printing 0 1 5 punt main* Centromc paraWM and RS232 (serial) mlcrtaces both
mcloded

GP 250X PRICE £?I9 • VAT £251 85

NEW GP 700A 7 COLOUR PRINTER

Tins latest adddion to Se>kosha rar-ge gives you print m seven colours 10 wide
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GP-700A SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE £349 • VAT £40135

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The most cost ellectivc quality matrix printers to be launched this year DP51Q
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* CASIO P8 TOO Basic language pocket computer 544 program steps. Qwerty

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* CASIO FX8C2P Base language computer, scientific functions, 1568 program

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* CASH) FA-3 Cassette adaptor for PB100 PB300 FX700

£17 35 • VAT C19 95

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* SHARP PC-1211 Basic language computer scientific functions 1424 program
steps 24 char display Owerty keyboard

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Texas Instrum entsTI 99/4A

This microcomputer is based on TMS9900 16-bit microprocessor 11 includes
16K RAM 16 colour high resoluhoq graphic (192 x 256) The screen display is
32 characters 24 lines Tl-BASIC Full-size keyboard For Software there are
about 1000 programs to choose from There are a lot ot peripherals available
e g Disk Drives Disk interlace Speech Synthesiser. Fxtra RAM Additional
lanouaQeiPASCAl Til 0G0 . ASSEMBLER I

Tl HOME COMPUTER HAROWARE
Title Description

T199 4A Complete with UHF modulator and power

supply 4 tree cassette lead

PERIPHERALS

Speech When used with selected modules will

Synthesizer roduce electronic speech

Peripheral This unit takes an card peripherals and on .

Expansion System ifMemat disk drive

Oisk Onve - 92K formatted drive mounts internally in

Internal peripheral expansion system

Disk Controller Controls up to 3 disk drives, complete with

Card disk manager command module

Oisk Drive 92K formatted capacity per Side acts as 2

Double Sided drives 0SK1 & DSK? total capacity 184K

bytes

Oisk Drive Complete with owr* case power supply &

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RS232 Provides 2 serial RS232 ports and one

Expansion Card paratiei port tor interfacing

RAM Adds 32K byles extra RAM bunging total

Expansion Card capacity to 48K bytes

P Code Card Includes Ihe UCSD PASCAL P code inter

prefer

Matrix Printer 80 column matrix printer pmtei GP-IOOA

• cable

80 column matrix printer with RS232 and
Centromc oaraiiei interface
80 column 100 CPS matrix printer

Matrix Printer
GP250X
Epson RX80
Printer

Please send S A £ tor software prices

Price
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£41 95
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Dept. E.C., EXECUTIVE HOUSE, SOUTH RD.,
TEMPLEFIELDS, HARLOW, ESSEX CM20 2B2. UK.
TEL: HARLOW (0279) 443521 OR 412639
TELEX 995801 REF - A18

ORDERING INFORMATION

All orders which accompany a cheque cash or postal orders are CARRIAGE
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Wa welcome calfara, no parking protolama.

76

• Circle No. 146

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Review

The memory
lingers on

Neville Maude makes a date with a combined diary, real-time clock and
non-volatile add-on RAM tor the BBC Micro.

one of the annoying things about
computers is that when the current is
switched off everything held in memory is
lost. Files can be saved to tape or disc, of
course, but they then have to be fed back in
on each occasion. The idea behind the
Acacia non-volatile real-time clock and
RAM system for the BBC Micro is to store
diary information in RAM which has its
own back-up battery*

The Acacia unit is housed in a substantial
case which measures Sin, by 5.5in. by 3in*
A ribbon cable links it to the micro’s I MHz
bus connector, and a four-strand connector
goes to the auxiliary power socket.

The all-important back-up power is
supplied by a Tadrian TL-5104P lithium
battery* Acacia quotes a rather con-
servative three-year battery life, after which
a replacement will cost around £5. New
batteries can be inserted by anyone who can
handle a soldering iron without damaging
CMOS components, and Acacia will do the
job for those who lack the courage to do it
themselves.

Sideways ROM

Interfacing software comes on a ROM
which should be placed in the first socket
from the right. It is formatted as sideways
ROM so only 256 bytes of workspace are
needed. The current version is compatible

Apple Diary

The Oasis Diary Card provides a
dock/ealendar for the Apple U
computer. The software, in ROM,
provides commands to create,
review, search and exit from the
diary information, which is held in
battery-backed RAM. Data retention
is stated to be a minimum of five
years. The 16K of RAM allows about
240 diary entries, but a factory
upgrade to 64K of RAM is possible*
The diary card can be installed in
any slot except slot 0, and the diary
can be accessed without disturbing
any program in RAM. Contact Oasis
Electronics Ltd, University Village,
Norwich NR4 71 J* Telephone:
Norwich (0603) 503275.

with Torch, second processors and so on.

The RAM filing system is very swift
indeed — three times faster than disc for
Load and Save, It is also very reliable since
there are no moving parts, and operation is
completely silent. Time and date can be
automatically included into files*

Setting up

Only 4K of memory is available, but that
is enough to be useful for small things such
as setting-up data. For example, if using the
Word wise word-processor chip it is useful
to let the non-volatile RAM feed in things
like *TV255,0 and *FX6,Q. Other useful
instructions might set the second values for
the user-definable keys to provide single-
key controls, standard page settings, and
any commands required to ensure that the
printer produces a £ sign instead of a .

The idea of instantaneously switching in
Snapper, Planetoids or more serious long
programs must wait until more RAM is
available. Acacia can provide a 26K
upgrade with no change in base software,

♦DIAA— add a reminder to diary

♦DlAD—display and/or delete ail
reminders for specific or subsequent
dates

♦DIAK— display and/cr delete items
containing keyword

♦DIAR— read and/or delete items that
activated alarm

* TIME— enable continuous date and
time display

* DATD— display non-continuous time
and date

*TIMD— disable continuous time and
date display

♦TIMS— set the time

* DATS— set the date

Table 1. Diary system commands.

♦ACCESS— locks or unlocks file

♦ INFO— determines load address,
length, and execution address file

♦ OPT 4n— controls autoboot, 1 Load, 2
Run, 3 Execute

♦ EXEC— treats file as if typed in

♦ SPOOL— directs output to screen,
printer, RS-423 etc

♦RAM— access to Acacia filing system
Table 2. Filing system commands.

though this costs about £150 extra. When
8K chips become cheap enough to replace
the present chips, full expansion will be
possible up to 64K*

The diary system is based on a real-time
dock which can provide readings of the
year, month, date, hour and minute*
Reminder messages are available if
required; they could be yearly for birthdays
or an approaching MOT test, or monthly,
like cheque-card repayments. Temporary
messages for things like switching off the
cooker can be programmed in* An alarm
can be made to sound even if you are in the
middle of another program. The current
version holds dates up to the year 2014*

You can search the diary for particular
entries. Suppose you were a keen golf
player, entering

♦DIAK GOLF

would select and display all entries showing
this keyword. If you wanted to know when
you met Mr Brown the computer would
pick the relevant entry or entries. Useful
refinements are that upper and lower case
can be used. There is a wild-card facility so
if you are not sure whether the name is spell
with an e or not, typing
Brown*

would cover both contingencies.

Conclusions

• The diary and RAM filing system are a
very clever piece of programming, with well
thought-out commands.

• A commendably clear 36-page A 5
manual is supplied*

• The instant loading offered by non-
volatile RAM storage is attractive, but the
standard 4K is large enough only for
frequently used set-up routines rather than
full programs*

• Good old-fashioned desk diaries and
real-time clocks with built-in alarms can
both he had for a few pounds: whether a
micro-based version of the same things is
worth 10 times as much must be a matter of
personal priorities*

• The Acacia Diary and RAM filing system

is supplied by Acacia Computers Ltd, 5
Coombe Lea, Bickley, Bromley, Kent BR1
2HQ, It costs £147 including VAT; tbe26K
RAM upgrade costs about £150* 0

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

77

a year after the Apple Lisa pioneered a
new approach to software the first of the
major imitators has arrived, Visi On from
Visicorp has, like Lisa, a friendly mouse-
controlled user interface. Also like Lisa,
Visi On lets you run several applications
concurrently, displaying them in separate
windows on the screen, and it lets you pass
data between them.

Unlike Lisa, Visi On does not require
special dedicated hardware — it will run
on a range of machines. But it is not an
operating system, but an “operating
environment”. You load it on top of your
operating system, which is one reason why
it is machine independent. The initial
version, available immediately, is For the
IBM PC XT.

Visi On comes in two parts. The Visi On
Applications Manager sits immediately on
top of the OS, which in the initial release is
MS-DOS. The VAM seizes control of all
interaction between the machine and the
user, doing things like displaying the
output from application programs in user-
defined windows on the screen and
accepting commands entered using the
mouse or keyboard, Visi On application
programs then sit on lop of the
Applications Manager,

Initially Visicorp is releasing three
application programs for Visi On: a
spreadsheet, a word processor and a
graphics package. They are called Visi On
Calc, Visi On Word and Visi On Graph,
names which are sure to lead to confusion
with Visicorp’s older series of programs,
the VisiCalc/VisiWord/VisiPlot range.
The company intends to bring out other
Visi On applications, with a database
called Visi On Query to be followed by
mainframe-to-micro communications.

Data transfer

Data from the Visi On programs can be
transferred from one program to another,
from Calc to Graph to produce a bar chart
for instance, and then from Graph to
Word to incorporate the bar chart in a
report. At least that is the intention. In
fact the initial release, Version 1.0, that I
saw running on the IBM could not manage
to move charts across into a Word
document.

It took Apple some time to get similar
functions working on the Lisa, but with a
year’s start the Lisa provides a more
completely data-infegrated invironment.
On the other hand Visi On’s response time
seems good compared to the sluggish
standard set by the Apple Lisa, especially
when opening up an additional window
for a new application program.

The mouse supplied by Visicorp has two
buttons and is of novel design. Instead of
having a large ball-bearing in the base like
the Lisa and Microsoft mice, underneath it
has a light emitter and a light detector.
You move the mouse about on a 9in.~
by-6in. flat mirror with a grid marked on
it. This optical system seems to work
reasonably well and is claimed to be more

VISI ON

Ian Stobie looks at Visicorp’s long-awaited mouse-
controlled integrated software system: how it
compares to the Lisa and to competing products
promised by Digital Research and Microsoft.

reliable. Visicorp says later versions of
Visi On will support other manufacturers’
mice.

The general approach embodied in both
Visi On and Lisa is to simulate the familiar
desk-top paper environment on the
computer screen, I personally find this
makes unfamiliar packages easier to use.
The consistency between applications
makes it easier to remember what to do
when you return to a package after not
using it for several weeks.

All the same, I find it difficult to be very

Third Party Visi On
applications packages

Vrsi On
Calc

Visi On
Wort)

{ Vision
l m

1

MS-DOS

applications

packages

VisiOn

Applications

Manager

i M-

1 Multi*
j Plan

Operating System
e.g. MS-DOS

PC Hardware

Applications Manager sits between the OS
and Visi On applications.

excited by Visi On, perhaps because it is so
very like the Lisa, Where Visi On differs
from the Lisa it is generally less ambitious.
It does not make such extensive use of
graphic symbols on the screen for
instance, being content with displaying
keywords.

As with Lisa, the problem most people
find with Visi On is the price. Before you
can do anything you need the Visi On
Applications Manager costing £375 and
the mouse at £185. The Visi On applic-
ations themselves cost an additional £295
for Visi On Calc, £285 for Visi On Word
and £195 for Visi On Graph. When you
add on the cost of an IBM PC XT you are
not far off the price of Lisa, which is
£6,500 with all six integrated Lisa
applications,

Visi On will be launched for several
other machines including the Texas
Professional, the Wang PC and the
standard IBM PC, but the overall cost is
unlikely to be much lower because Visi On
requires a hard disc. The VAP code alone
takes up 3,5Mbyte. It is crucial to the
success of Visieorp’s strategy for Visi On
to get third-party suppliers writing
independent application packages for Visi
On, Above all, Visicorp has to achieve a
large installed base quickly. So the all-in
end-user system price matters a great deal.

BeaoPlot/Plot/BuiU

series chart dra* rescale overlay

^oHord/Eevise

DewCal c/Spmdshegt

forwih label edit repl Cutjaste ft

HELP CLOSE OFffl FULL FRAME OPTIONS TRANSFER WP

Marketing Staff

Ray Ualshjir. of Sales

Quarterly Sales Report

If ter a »ak showing in the fm
^port draMatical ly increased! <

loth retail and contract totals ;
if this is due to our increased
iealer promotions hunched two
incouraging, we mtst contrive to
lising if we wish to sustain our

Graph, Word and Calc applications running at the same time on Visi On.

78

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

To encourage third-party suppliers to
develop Visi On application programs
Visicorp is releasing Full details of the
VAP's program -level interface. This is not
as useful as it sounds, as Visi On applic-
ations will have to be written in C and you
will need the Visi On toolkit to build
mouse control and windows into your
application package.

The toolkit will run only in a Unix envir-
onment at the moment, which means that
whatever your target machine is you will
need a Vax or a good 68000-based
machine to develop your software on*
Further, the Visi On toolkit is expensive:
the Vax version costs £7,500, and the
68000 version £5,000, A version of the
toolkit to run on the IBM PC, which
presumably will be cheaper, is promised
for early 1 984.

Since Visi On sits on top of a standard
operating system running on a standard

machine, the key question for any
commercial software developer is why not
simply write directly for the OS.
Immediately this would open up the huge
potential market oF possibly one million
MS-DOS systems already out there,
compared to an installed user base For Visi
On, at the time of writing, of zero.

It could be argued that it might make
better commercial sense to write your own
set oT routines and put them in with the
application code, like in Lotus 1-2-3 or
Multiplan for example, or to forget about
such frills altogether. This assumes that
the standard operating systems are going
to remain simple, with a fairly spartan
user interface. What is happening is that
both Microsoft and Digital Research are
putting elaborate user- friendly features
into their OSs, and are bringing out
powerful software tools to help with
system development. Now both have

announced concurrent windowing for
future products.

At a press conference timed to the hour
to match Visi On’s launch, Microsoft
showed Windows, or rather an early
mock-up version. The real product will, it
is claimed, be available in April 1984. A
year ago Visicorp pre-announced Visi On
to journalists at the height of the
excitement over the Lisa. It is ironic that in
this instance Visicorp is having its thunder
stolen in the same way.

Windows is really part of MS-DOS 2,
the latest release of Microsoft’s 16-bit OS.
Windows is still a provisional product, but
the demo I saw running on a DEC
Rainbow 1 00 4- , the new hard-disc
Rainbow, looked very good, it has better-
resolution graphics than Visi On and made
full use of Lisa-style icons. However, the
response time of the eventual product was
impossible to judge given the artificiality
oT the demonstration.

Less ambitious

Microsoft’s MS-DOS 2 with Windows is
a less ambitious product than Visi On in
that it looks as though it will not
have virtual-memory management, this
suggests that the number of tasks you can
do concurrently may be more limited, or
the response time may suffer in some
circumstances. Nonetheless 1 would judge
it to be a real threat to Visi On in the
market place. Already Microsoft has
signed deals with 23 computer manu-
facturers to put MS-DOS with Windows
on their machines. As an OEM product
MS-DOS with Windows will sell in volume
to system suppliers. To the end-user it will
appear to be come free with the system.
Visi On, on the other hand, has to be
bought like any other application product,
and it is not cheap.

Microsoft’s activities will have the most
immediate impact on Visicorp because all
the early versions of Visi On will be for
MS-DOS machines. But Visicorp intends
to release Visi On for Digital Research
operating systems at some stage. Again,
Digital Research has rapidly followed the
Visi On launch with an announcement of
its own. Version 3.1 of Concurrent
CP/M-86, due for release in March, is to
have windows. DR’s windowing facilities
are limited to four windows active at one
lime, but there will be support for data
transfer between windows, which is
probably more important.

Between them, Digital Research and
Microsoft have not left Visicorp much
time to start an unstoppable Visi On
bandwagon rolling. And then there is
Apple, pioneer of the mouse/ windows/
integrated -so ft ware approach. Is it
content to let things rest with the Lisa? In
next month’s Practical Computing we
reveal the shape of Apple’s answer,

Visi On’s U.K. distributor is Rapid
Terminals, Rapid House, Denmark
Street, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
HP 1 1 2ER. Telephone: (0494) 26271. Q

Concurrent CP/M, with four windows, is due for release in March.

MS-DOS with Windows showing Word simultaneously with another program.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

79

The best
policy

Ian Hopkins details the crucial clauses to look out for
when you are insuring a micro

the magic of the micro is great to begin
with. It obediently displays the latest profit
figures, the answers to homework or the
latest state of your single-handed battle to
save the world from extra-terrestrial
invasion. However, as with the TV and the
hi-fi, at some point things are liable to go
wrong.

It may be that a fault develops in the
mysterious little box, or the keyboard
refuses to function. Maybe your Dragon
ends up in a burglar's swag-bag while you
are at Butlins, or the ZX-81 loses an
argument with the vacuum cleaner. As with
most of the little tragedies of life, however,
some solace can be found if you plan in
advance — and take out insurance.

It is possible to insure practically
anything in which you have a financial
interest, but the insurance companies have
been slow to adapt to computers, compared
with their obsession for cars, houses and
lives. At first they were happy to insure
micros, and even larger machines, as an
item in a business-contents contract, or to
add the personal micro to the list of other
electrical gadgets among the personal
effects covered by a house-contents policy.

Embarassment

It has taken some time for the companies
to realise the special problems relating to
computers and to see that these are risks of
a different nature than those applicable to
the washing machine. It is still normal to go
to a broker or the local branch office of a
major company and be met with an
embarrassed stare when you enquire about
micro insurance.

There are three ways of approaching the
insurance of your micro, and each has
advantages and disadvantages. The
simplest is to add it to the appropriate
section of an office or house-contents
policy, usually on an “all risks' * basis. For
home computers this involves simply
contacting your insurers and asking them to
add the machine to your policy and
informing them of its value. The annual
premium is then likely to be adjusted to
take it into account.

Premiums are usually calculated as so
many pence per £100 insured. Rates vary
not only from company to company but
from area to area. Norwich Union, for
example, would ask 35p per £100 in low-
risk country areas but as much as 90p per
£100 in the burglar-infested wastes of inner
London. Provincial*® asking rate is £1 per
£100. However, the cheapest policy is not
alway the best since exclusions and excess
— the sum you remain liable for, such as
the first £100 of each claim — vary from
company to company.

The problem with this type of insurance
for a micro is that while it is cheap it only
covers normal risks such as fire, theft and,
to quote the Provincial, “loss or damage by
any accident or misfortune”. It does not
cope with cooked chips or head crashes,
stiil less with any financial loss which you

incur because the machine is out of action.
It may, however, be the economical choice
for casual home users or smaller businesses.

A growing number of companies now
produce computer policies that will cover
the specific needs of small machines. For
example, in addition to fire, theft and
accident cover they will give protection for
data media, costs of replacing data on tape
or disc and similar expenses. Some of these
companies are small engineering
subsidiaries of the larger ones. For
example, British Engine belongs to the
Royal Insurance Group, National Vulcan is
associated with Sun Alliance, and Scottish
Boiler is part of General Accident. They
Lend to concentrate on commercial
installations, especially mainframe

Dr Ian Hopkins is a
Director of Kosmos Computing

computers, but will also cover micros.
British Engine has a special Mini and Micro
policy. Other companies catering specially
for computers include household names
such as Combi U, Commercial Union and
Eagle Star, while Prudential and Norwich
Union have still to wake up to the potential
in computer insurance.

What these companies offer varies in
detail but there are a large number of
similarities. The significant differences are
often simply the cost of premiums and the
excess imposed. In the event of theft or
total loss by fire or damage, most
companies will replace the machine with a
new one of the same specification. This
new-for-old approach is important for
computers because of the poor state of the
second-hand market.

In motor insurance it is normal to
indemnify the customer. In other words, if

80

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Insurance

your four-year-old Cortina is hit by a
runaway lamp post you get the value of a
four-year-old Cortina — no more, no less.
You could then go out and buy one if you
wanted to replace like with like. However,
it is not so easy to get an Acorn Atom or Pet
of a particular vintage. By and large the
insurance companies recognise this, though
there are a few exceptions, such as
Guardian Royal Exchange. Many com-
panies limit new-for-old to fairly recent
models.

Along with the loss of the machine, loss
of tapes and discs is an important risk,
especially if they are carried about or lent to
other people. Most of the specialist policies
make some attempt to finance the
resurrection of software. Some do not
compensate for loss of the actual media,
and the degree to which they will support
data recovery also varies. Commercial
Union is more generous on this than many
others but it is important to get a clear
understanding of the extent of com-
pensation before you go ahead and sign the
agreement.

Consequential loss

A third important area of cover is what is
known as consequential loss. It covers loss
of income and other costs resulting from
computer breakdown or loss of access to
the machine. British Engine summarises
this cover as “additional expenditure up to
the limit of the sum insured, incurred in
order to continue the work normally done
on the computer for up to six months , ,

It is in the area of consequential loss that
the traditional home-contents policies fall
down because they will not offer any
compensation for this type of loss. Office
policies tend to include some cover of this
nature often designated “interruption of
work”, although it may not be adequate
for the potential loss of a database or large
software system. The average home-
computer owner, of course, may suffer
little or no real loss of earnings if the micro
is used solely for entertainment or pleasure.
An identical machine used as the heart of a
business-accounts or customer-record
system could lead to financial problems in
the event of theft or damage.

All risks?

If you are considering a so-called all-risks
policy it is important to remember that it
does not in fact cover literally all risks.
There are a number of exclusions, which
vary from company to company, but again
they show a fair amount of common
ground. Most policies exclude problems
resulting from wear and tear and especially
“derangement’ \ by which is meant
breakdown resulting from loose con-
nections rather than a faulty part. Nearly
all policies exclude loss or damage
following “war, riots and civil
commotion” and there are particular
limitations in Northern Ireland. The effects

of nuclear radiation and changes in
atmospheric pressure changes, such as
sonic booms, are also excluded from nearly
all policies. If your micro is insured on the
basis of home use only you may have
difficulties with a claim arising from
business use. Domestic and General is
especially keen on this point.

Failure of the electricity supply is often
excluded, except for long periods, and this
is a vital element in computer stoppage. For
example, British Engine only insures
against failure of supply for more than four
hours and excludes “deliberate acts of the
supply authority or drought”. Eagle Star
has a more complicated power-failure
clause, but Commercial does not exclude
this problem.

As with all insurance policies, there are
'excess clauses. You are expected to pay the
first £10 per claim with Commercial Union
and Cornhill, up to £50 per claim with
Scottish Boiler.

Special policies

Finally, there are special contracts for
certain models. Domestic & General
produces policies geared to the Genie,
Vic-20 and Commodore 64, and also
insures the computer trade. Another type
of special policy is the computer- fraud
contract of Legal and General, but this is
more likely to interest larger financial
businesses than the owners of micro
systems.

The cost of specialist computer policies
varies from about £8 upwards, and depends
on the value of the equipment covered and
the potential loss of business. The average
home or small-business user always needs
to consider carefully the cost of a special
policy compared with an extension to
a home/ office-contents contract. The
decision really hinges on whether serious
problems would emerge if the machine
were to be out of action for more than a few
days.

A final type of cover deals with the
exclusions of wear and tear and
derangement found in most regular
po I ic ies . M a ny m i cro users , espec ia Uy tho se

with business interests, find the insurance
companies* exclusions irritating. As far as
they are concerned, if the machine is down
they want it put right as quickly and as
economically as possible, whatever the
cause. The traditional answer to this
problem has always been a maintenance
agreement of a similar nature to that which
many of us have to look after our central
heating. For an annual fee, an engineering
company will agree to service the
equipment free of labour and we just have
to pay for the parts,

Datacover

However, computer users now have an
alternative which is growing rapidly in
popularity. It is known as Datacover and is
organised by the Bristol firm of insurance
brokers, Halsey and Company. Its
distinctive feature is breakdown cover. The
Datacover policy includes parts as well as
labour on an all-risks basis, and expenses of
recompiling data, hiring alternative
equipment and normal loss or damage are
included. The idea is that the average
computer user needs a policy which really
covers all insurable risks and is simple to
claim on, Datacover is cheaper than a
maintenance agreement, and the user has
the freedom to contact any engineer and
then present the bill to the insurers.

Critics of Datacover argue that
maintenance agreements ensure that the
engineer places the contracted customer
high on the priority list. In other words if
you ring XYZ Engineers Ltd when your
machine is down someone will come today
if you have a maintenance contract but you
will have to wait till next week if you use
DatacoVer, There is some doubt, however,
whether things are really quite as bad as
this. Surely, where there is competition
between engineering firms there is ample
incentive to deal with all customers
promptly. The Datacover concept looks
like catching on and represents a very good
deal.

There are few professional advisers who
can offer help in choosing a policy to insure
a micro. On the whole, if a machine is being
used for personal use then an extension to a
home-contents all-risks policy may be
adequate unless a lot of software is being
produced. If the micro is being used
regularly for personal or business purposes
and any breakdown would be cosily or
inconvenient, then Datacover may well be
the answer. For Firms which can do their
own maintenance or the individual who
enjoys soldering RGBs a normal special
computer policy may be enough.

As with all insurance policies it pays to
get what advice you can and to read the
small print. What are the exclusions? Does
it cover transit? How^ much consequential
loss is covered? The day when the micro
can be insured as easily as the car may be
some way off, but a little shopping around
should produce a suitable policy for home
and business users, Q

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

81

A well THUMBED book of tables is an
indispensable part of most central-heating
engineers* equipment* The vital
information it contains includes data on the
heat output of radiators Of a given size,
water flow in the pipes, boiler sizing and
plenty more besides, A rough-and-ready
convertor specifying what size of radiator is
required for a room of a particular size is
likely to be particularly well used.

However, an efficient system calls for
some extensive calculations to make sure
that fuel is not wasted in overheating some
rooms while others remain chilly. In the
first place you need to work out precisely
how much heat is required in each room.
The inside and outside temperatures, the
volume of the room and how often the air
in the room is changed are the most crucial
factors. The area of glass in the room, the
temperature of the house next door and the
insulating properties of various building
materials also need to be taken into
account* It all amounts to quite an involved
series of calculations which must be
repeated for each room in the house*

if you have ever done the exercise for
yourself the thought is bound to have
dawned that this is work more suited to a
computer than a human. With this
program you can repeat the calculations for
a series of external temperatures and
compare the results, A bonus is that any
errors in your raw data can easily be
corrected without having to spend hours
checking the knock-on effect in other
rooms: you just run the program again.

Making changes

The program makes it particularly easy
to change the target temperature in any
room. Other parameters can be altered by
changing the appropriate program line.
Likely candidates are: number of rooms,
variable name Nrooms% at line 120;
external temperature, variable name
Outside at line 100; and the temperature in
adjoining building: variable name Ndoor at
line 1 10,

The data itself is placed in Data
statements, it is not worth using a data file
if you just want to run the program a few
times* If you need to run the program
regularly you* can modify it to read from
such a Data file; the data is simply loaded
into anarray for analysis in lines 180 to 220.

The program assumes that each room
has six rectangular surfaces, so lighthouse-
keepers will have to make approximations.
Only one window is allowed for in each
wall, but you can aggregate the areas of
several windows* No allowance is made for
internal doors; errors arising from this
assumption are negligible as it is bad
practice to design for large temperature
differences across internal walls. External
doors present a slightly different problem,
which can best be dealt with by adding a
fewf tens of watts to the heating
requirements of the room in question.

The program calculates the heat loss and
ventilation loss for each room. The heat-

Home

heating

John Smith’s program takes the hard labour out of
calculating radiator sizes and the boiler rating for a
domestic central-heating system.

loss calculation uses the general formula:
Heat loss = area of surface x U value of
surface x temperature difference across
surface

where area is in square metres, the
temperature in °C and the heat loss is in

watts. In each surface a separate
calculation is done for the window area and
non- window area.

Ventilation loss is calculated from the
formula:

Ventilation loss per room = number of air

>L,

l OMODE6

20FR I NT "CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAM * HEAT' "

30PRINT" BY John Smith . CCi 19B3"

40T I ME«0: REPEAT UNTIL TTME>250

50VDU3s CLOSEDO ; REM ensure printer is off and any files from other programs cl
05 ed

70VDU 23,240^24 , 24, 0,0, O, O, 195, IPS
0OREM DEFINE SOME CONSTANTS

9Qshf ac tor==0* 37 : REM INCLUDES SPECIFIC HEAT OF AIR
10 Gout side- -Is REM OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE
ilOndanr* 12;, REM NEXT DOOR TEMP
120nroams7.* 9: REM NUMBER OF ROOMS
1 30 va 1 u# sp err gonX>4S
i 40tn*K d « t a7**= v a 1 u esp e r r oom V + -n-n r oo m sX
ISO! »Q: REM a search pointer
160DIM data < maKdataVU
17QREM fill the array
i80FDRi7.=i TC naxdataX
190READ dataUVJ
200NEXT
210R£ADeofK

220 IFeof V.K > i 0000 PRINT* 1 mi ssed end mar ker STOP

230 CLS; PRINT 7 "Process entire data 7 CRi '"Change a room temp 7 fCI "

240FRI NT "Choose option -> "]

250ap ti-SETfc
26GPRlNTopt*

270 IF (optS^'P") OR (opt4^ ,, p' F ) GOTO 470
2S0 IF topt$0"C N > AND topt*<>"c"l GOTO 230

290PRINT’ ’ "RCPM / CODE " ' " —

3G0F0Ri TO nr ciams^

3 1 OPRDCroom (i 1 )

3 20PR I NTrdom* F " ( " J i X ; N ) “

330NEXT

340 INPUT' "Enter code of room to be changed " ;r7.

3501 N PUT "What is the desired temp ,J jt7.

360PRINT

370REM find the room

3BQF0R i V. “ 1 TO ma^dataX

3901 F data(iX>-rX #-I GOTO 410

40QNEXT

41Qdat*< i y.+ t ) «t!i : REM change to new temp
420REM Tell user what's been changed' 1 '

43OPR0Cronm £r7.*- 1 >

440FRINT"Temp in the M j raamifcj H is now ";t7.

450PRlNT'*Pre5s SPACE to continue" ;A=GET
46G0OTO 230
470 REM

4 S OREM START PROCESSING

490PRINT" "Output to printer 7 (Y/NJ ■’ f

S0Gopt*"GET*

5lOPRINTopt*

320 IF ( aptSO-’ 1 Y" } AND top t*< >"y " } AND tOpt*< > M N U ) AND [ opi*< >”n " ) 00T0500

530CLSS PRINT? AEt 10 p 23i * "— <■

540PRINT" [Press SPACE for nest page of results ["

35 OPR I NT " - — »

5601 F ( opt 4^"Y"J OR <apts='' y " ) VDU2:R£M printer on
570VDU3CUREM Cursor home

5SOPR I N T 11 — — - — « - ; — "

590PRINT” [ Lowest outside temp assumed ■ "| outside! “ J"

600PRINT J, J Temp non fc dear is assumed = ndoor;" I H

6 1 OPRINT"— — — * — "

620VDU2Q, 0, 19, 39, 6sR£M Define tent window

630totsl 7*"0 *

640FDRp7.-l TO maxdataV, STEF 46 : REM for each room
650 q'/.-pX

660roomi d%=data < pX > : qX“g'X+ 1 s REM which roam

82

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

1. Applications j

changes per hour x volume of room x
specific heat capacity of air x
temperature different to outside.

The boiler losses are simply estimated as
being 10 percent of the total losses so far-
An additional 3kW is then added for
domestic hot- water requirements to arrive
at a total figure for the minimum boiler
capacity needed- A conversion factor is
applied to give results in BTU per hour, as
manufacturers still quote radiator and
boiler outputs in these units.

Before entering the data, draw a rough
plan of each floor of the building. Label
each room with a unique identification
number, starting at - 1 and going on to
-2, - 3, etc.; this number corresponds to
program variable RoomlD. Mark the
desired temperature in each room in °C.
Then draw up a table with the dimensions
in metres of each room and, where
appropriate, the size of the windows.
Assume one wall to be north and then work
round east, south and west, which is a help
when checking the data afterwards.

The program expects data in the

Surface

U value

Cavity wall

1*9

Cavity wall with foam infill

0.5

Brick internal wall

2. 1-2. 5

Breezed lock internal wall

2.4

Tite/slate roof on battens with

felt

2,0

Tile/slate roof, insulated with

glass-fibre

0,5

Wood floor, uncovered

1-8

Wood floor, carpeted

1.1

Solid floor

LI

Intermediate floor

1.6

Intermediate floor

1.2

Single-glazed windows

5-6

Double-glazed windows, sealed

2.7

Double-glazed windows, non*

sealed

4.0

Table 1. U values.

Sitting room

2

Bedroom

1,5

Bathroom

2

Kitchen

3

Halt

1.5

Table 2. Air changes per hour.

RoomlD; temperature;
J surf * xglass w/ , yglass IU ,y,

following order:

^surfi ysurft _

Uglass w y t Tag — repeated for each of the
six surfaces; x,y,z — dimensions of room in
metres; number of air changes per hour.
This makes a total of 48 items of data,
which you repeal for each room followed
by the value 1 0000 as the last data item
as an end-of-file marker. There is
considerable redundancy in the data, but
the format is convenient and quick to enter,
and simplifies the program as each room is
represented by a record of fixed length. The
Tag variable must be one of the following:
— the absolute value of the RoomlD of
the room adjoining this surface;

— 999 if the surface is an outside wall;
—1000 if surface adjoins other building*
The Tag is the key to the operation of the
program. The temperature difference
across each surface is required to calculate
the losses, and the program picks up a Tag
and scans the entire data looking for a
RoomlD corresponding to it. Room IDs are
negative and so can be easily extracted from
(continued on next page)

670destBmp»dat*£q7.> : q7,=qX+l s REM what temp for thim room
6SOTot&l radral DSS=0
690PR0CroDm ( rourni dX)

7O0PRINT 7 * rnam4 S " i Desired temp = '’ideatemp
71OF0Rk7=J; TP 6: REM for each surface of the room
720adjroomi d'/.=data <q7,+6) * -1

730 IF ABE (adjroDfflid7.) =999 adjroofntersp-outa-i de;GDT07B0; REM it's an external wa

7 shared

11

740 IF ABS (ad jroomid'iO *>ioOO ad j r oomt amp =n door; GOTO70O: REM this wall is
' with naxtdoor

750FPR iX-t TO max dat aX ; REM find out which ROOM is adjacent to this wall*

760IP data U XI =adj room! d'/. ad jroQmtempWfttfl fl 7.+ 1 J
7 70 NEXT

7SOlF17/j(Tii0Kdiata7*+l PRINT"Dops *- can't find room “ ; adjroomi dKsSTQP
790tempd* f f a destemp-ad j roomtemp

BOObt ul C6S= < < ( dat a i qV.S *data < qV.+ i > -data i q’/+3 ) +data ( q7+4 ) 3 *data ( q7.+2> +data £ q'/.+3>
a < qX+4 } *dat a £ q7.+S> 3 *t@mpdi f f 3 *3 . *1 21
BiOtotal =total +btul uss

B20Tnta l rooml oss=Total roaml nss+btul osr.

B30PRINT" Surface 1 5 k'/.? " Loss = "INT (btulossJ ; " Btu/hr"

84Qqy=rq7.+7i REM on to the ne*t surface
85 ONE XT

S60vol -data ( q7.3 *data <q7+l 3 *data Cq7.+2)

870airdh=data<qf/+3S

BOOventf actor® ( vol *ai rch* {destemp-out^i de) *shf actor 3 *3* 4121
09OPR1NT' "Venti 1 at ion loss ™ n ; INT( vantf actor! \ " Btu/hr"

90OTota 1 room 1 oss^Totai roomlhsS+vent factor
9 lOt ot al =*t at al+ vent factor

9 20 1 Fop t "V' PR I NT 7 " Rad i at or needed =■ 11 3 NT (Tot alroomlossl l ,r Btu/hr" ELSE PRINT
7 CKR*240 j'‘ Radi ator needed ■= " INI (Total room! ps$3 J " Btu/hr"

930PRINT' "****"

94QlF<apt*<>"Y"> OR <Qpt**="Y"} A=BET:CLS
95QNEXT

960PRINT T "Sum of Tosses so far = INT £ total }j Btu/hr"

970 PR I NT ' !J Add 107. for the boiler losses; "

980 total ®tot al +tota 1 *0 , 1

990PRINT' 11 this makes the losses up to "J I NT (total > ; n Btu/hr" 1
1000PR1NT ' h Wpw allowing 10000 Btu/hr for damestic hot water, 1 '

10 lOtntal »tot alt 10000

1 020PR I NT ' "bni 1 ar capacity must be at least ■ " INT (total) ; " Btu/hr £ 11 j TNT (total
*,293>?" Watts) "

1030VDU3, 26

I040PRINTTAB£0,22J S " PROGRAM COMPLETE

l OSOEND

1 060 DEFFRQCr oom < r nom id’/.)

I070IFroomidX--l r oom*-"Li ving room" : ENDPRPC
10801 Froomi d7.=-2 r Lounge" : ENDPROC

1 0 90 1 Fr o 0 m i <JX=-3 r oom* -"Ki t ehen " : ENDPROC
1 1003 Froomi d7*=-4 r oom *= "Lower h al 1 lr = ENDPROC
1 1 l0rFroomid'/.=-5 room<=‘ l Rear bedroom" s ENDPROC
1 120 1 Froomi d’/.*-6 room*"' 1 Front bedr oom" : ENDPROC
1 130 1 Froomi d5S=-7 roomt="SmaI 1 bedroom" ; ENDPRPC
1 140IFraomid7.^-8 room*-" Upper hal I ENDPRDC
1 1 50 1 Fr oom i d V, ■ - 9 r a on*- J " Bat h r oom " ; ENPPR GC
1 160ENDPR0C
1 1 700 AT A “1,22

ilSODATA 3.36,2,3, 1.9, 1,68, 1.49,5,6,999
1 190DATA 3.7, 2. 3, 2, 3, 0,0, 0,3
1200DATA 3.56,2.3,2.5,0,0,0,2
t 1210DATA 3- 7, 2. 3,2. 5, 0,0,0, 1000
1Z2GDATA 3.7,3,56.1-1,0,0,0,999
1 230DATA 3.7,3. 56, i. 6,0,0, 0,5
1 2400 At A 3,7,3.56,2,3,2
1250REM

1260DATA -2,20

1270DATA 3.56,2*3,2.5,0,0,0,1
1 2BODATA 3.85,2.3,2.5,0,0,0,4
1290 DATA 3.56,2.3, 1.9,2.92, 1.47,5.6,99V

1300DATA 3. 05,2.3, 2-5,0, 0,0, 1000
1 3105 AT A 3.85,3.56.1. 1,0,0,0,999
1320DATA 3.85,3.56,1.6,0,0,0,6
1330DATA 3.85,3.56,2.3,2
134 OREM

13500 AT A -3,16

1360DATA 2. 11,2. 3, 1.9, 1. 70, i* 17,5.6,999
1370DATA 4,2-3, 1.9,1. 14, 1 . 15, 5. 6* 9?9
13800 AT A 2.11,2.3,2.5,0,0,0,4
1390DATA 4,2.3 , 2. 5, 0,0,0. 1
14000 AT A 2- 11 ,4, 1.1, 0,0, 0,9 99
1410DATA 2.11,4, 1.6, 0,0, 0,9
1 4200 AT A 2-11,4,2.3,3
1430REM

1 44 00 AT A —4 , 16

1 450 DAT A 2.11,2,3, 2- 3,0, 0, 0 T 3
1460DATA 4.15,2.3, 1 . 9,0,0, 0, 999
1470DATA 2. 11,2.3, 1 .9,2. 11^2.3,5.6,999
1480DATA 4.15,2.3*2.5,0,0,0,2
1490DATA 4. 1 5, 2. 1 1 , i . 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 999
1500DATA 4. 15,2.11,1.6,0,0,0,8
1510DATA 4. 15 r 2. 11,2.3, 1.5
1520 REM

1530DATA -5,21

1540 DATA 3.56,2.36,1.9,1.68,1-33,5.6,999
1550DATA 3.7*2.36,2.5,0,0,0,9
1 5600 AT A 3.56,2.36,2.5,0,0,0,6
1570DATA 3.7,2.36,2-5,0,0,0, 1000
1580DATA 3.7, 3. 56, 1.2,0, 0, O . 1
1590DATA 3-7, 3- 56 ,0.5, 0,0,0, 999
1 600D AT A 3. 7, 3 . 56 s 2. 36, 1.5*

161 OREM

1620DATA -6^20

1630DATA 3.56,2- 36,2- 5, 0, 0, 0, 5
1640DAJA 3.85,2.36,2.5,0,0,0,7
1 650 DATA 3 - 56 , 2 . 36 , 1 . 9 , 2. 92, 1 . 47, 5. 6, 999
1660DATA 3.85,2.36*2.5,0,0,0, 1000
1670DATA 3.05,3*56,1.2,0,0,0,2
1680DATA 3.83,3.56,0.5,0,0,0,999
1 690DATA 3.85,3.56,2,36,1.5
1700REM

1710 DATA -7,21

1720DATA 2.11.2.36,2.5,0,0,0,8
1730DATA 1.95,2.36, 1.9,0,0,0,999
1 740D AT A 2. 1 1 , 2. 36, 1 - 9, 1 ; 1 , 5. 6 , 999
1750DATA 1.95,2.36,2.5,0,0,0,6
1760DATA 2-11,1.95,1.2,0,0,0,4
1770DATA 2. 11, 1.93,0.5,0,0,0,999
17B0DATA 2. 11, 1.95,2.36, 1.5
1 790REM

1B00DATA -8,16

101ODATA 2. 11,2.36,2-5,0,0,0,9
1B20DATA 2.34,2.36,1.9, 1 . 4, i . 9, 5. 6, 999
1830 DATA 2. 1 1,2, 36, 2. 5, 0,0, 0,7
1 8 40 DATA 2-54,2.36,2.5,0,0,0,6
18 SOD AT A 2- 11,2-54, 1 . 2, 0, 0, 0, 4
1 860 DAT A 2,11,2. 54, 0. 5, 0, 0,0,999
107ODATA 2.11,2.54,2,36,1.3
1SS0REM

1 8900 AT A “9,19

1 900DATA 2.11,2.36,1.9,1.12,1-16,3-9, 999
1910DATA 3- 15,2.36, 1.9,0,0,0,999
1 920DATA 2- 11,2- 36, ^2. 5, 0,0, 0,8
1930DATA 3.15,2.36,2,5,0,0,0*5
1940DATA 2.11,3.15,1.2,0,0,0,3
1950 DAT A 2,11,3, 15, 0. 5, 0, 0, 0, 999
1 960DATA 2.11,3.15,2, 36, 2
19 70 DAT A 10000

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

83

>RUN

CENTRAL HEATING PROGRAM * HEAT'
BY John Smith. (C) 1983

! Lowest outside temp assumed = -1 !
I Temp next door is assumed = 12 I

Living room: Desired temp = 22
Surface 1 Loss = 1947 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 435 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 139 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss * 725 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss =* 1137 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 71 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 1759 Btu/hr

Radiator needed = 6217 Btu/hr

*###

Lounge: Desired temp - 20
Surface 1 Loss = -140 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 302 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss *= 2252 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = 604 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = 1080 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 0 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 1671 Btu/hr

Radiator needed = 5771 Btu/hr

***#

Kitchen: Desired temp = 16
Surface 1 Loss =* 981 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 1295 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss * 0 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = -471 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = 538 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = -139 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 1249 Btu/hr

Radiator needed =* 3456 Btu/hr

**#*

Lower hall: Desired temp = 16
Surface 1 Loss = 0 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 1051 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss - 1576 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss - -326 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 558 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 0 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 648 Btu/hr

Radiator needed = 3509 Btu/hr

#***

Rear bedroom: Desired temp = 21
Surface 1 Loss - 1818 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 148 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 71 Btu/hr

Surface 4 Loss = 670 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = -54 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss - 494 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 1295 Btu/hr
Radiator needed = 4445 Btu/hr

***#

Front bedroom: Desired temp = 20
Surface 1 Loss = -72 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss « -78 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 2281 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = 620 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = 0 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 491 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss =* 1286 Btu/hr

Radiator needed « 4530 Btu/hr

***#

Small bedroom: Desired temp = 21
Surface 1 Loss = 212 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 656 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 987 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = 39 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss =* 84 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 154 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss => 404 Btu/hr

Radiator needed = 2539 Btu/hr

#***

Upper hall: Desired temp = 16
Surface 1 Loss =* -128 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 1231 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = -213 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = -205 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = 0 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss = 155 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 407 Btu/hr

Radiator needed => 1249 Btu/hr

****

Bathroom: Desired temp = 19
Surface 1 Loss = 822 Btu/hr
Surface 2 Loss = 963 Btu/hr
Surface 3 Loss = 127 Btu/hr
Surface 4 Loss = -127 Btu/hr
Surface 5 Loss = 81 Btu/hr
Surface 6 Loss « 226 Btu/hr

Ventilation loss = 792 Btu/hr

Radiator needed *= 2888 Btu/hr

#***

Sum of losses so far * 34607 Btu/hr

Add 10*/. for the bailer losses:

this makes the losses up to 38068 Btu/hr

Now allowing 10000 Btu/hr for domestic hot water,

boiler capacity must be at least = 48068 Btu/hr (14083 Watts)

(continued from previous page)
the data; the program just multiplies the
Tag by - 1 before beginning its search for a
RoomlD. When the program finds a
RoomID which corresponds to the Tag, the
temperature in that room is simply the
entry following that RoomID in the array.

In the example for which data is given.

the hall was treated as two rooms, as the
geometry of the building lent itself to that
approach; remember to add one to
Nrooms% if you do this. Changes should
be made to the procedure in lines 1070 to
1150 to associate the RoomID with the
name of the room for your application.

The program runs on the BBC

Microcomputer Model B in Mode 6;
change line 10 to read Mode 7 to run on a
Model A. It takes about a minute to
compute the results for a whole house and
output can be sent to a printer as one of the
options. Page mode is engaged when
output goes only to the screen, and is
disengaged for printer output. Q

84

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

I0VE

8KW

«

Gordon Baker had often thought about
buying a computer, but his courage always failed
him at the vital moment, "I’m not a technical man", he
explained. "I need patience and understanding and
when I saw Columbia in a recent issue of a computer
magazine, it looked so attractive and uncomplicated
that l just had to send for more details.”

A package arrived from Icarus the following
Monday. With trembling hands Gordon opened it
and read through the letter and introductory
brochure. It seemed too good to be true: Columbia
embodied all that had been missing from his
previous relationships.

A meeting was arranged.

Gordon passed that afternoon with his local
Icarus dealer in a state of near ecstasy! Columbia
was not only attractive to look at, but, as the dealer
explained and demonstrated,
proved extremely competent
without being overly
complicated.

Soon after that initial contact
Gordon had to fly North on
business and it was a fortnight
before he could contact
the dealer to fix another
meeting. It was decided
to bring Columbia round
to Gordon’s office to be
introduced to the staff. It
was vital to establish as soon as
possible whether Columbia could
operate efficiently in his own
business environment.

The0dumbal6BIT

Things could not have gone better. Columbia
was a big hit with everybody; Accounts, Stock
Control, Sales, Research and Forecasting were all of
one accord: Columbia was terrific.

They enthused over the high resolution amber
screen, were effusive about the choice of CP/M 86
and MS-DOS operating systems and IBM PC
compatibility, and then became quite emotional over
Columbia’s floppy and Winchester disc
configurations, its expandability up to 896K RAM and
the access it gave to hundreds of 16 BIT ‘off the shelf
software packages.

The dealer asked Gordon if he would like to see
Columbia again. "Oh, please”, said Gordon, “could it
stay for just a couple more days?"

Within a week Columbia had moved in
permanently, and Gordon was on top of the world.

“I'd just about given up hope of ever
finding my perfect partner", he said,
"until Columbia came along and
changed my life!"

In the background, the
warm glow from the amber
screen seemed to indicate
that Columbia too was
well pleased with the

situation . . . 99

If you think the
Columbia PC could
be youi perfect
partner too, we'll be pleased to
send you more intimate details in
complete confidence.

FtemalQmputer

— -

Compuler Systems Ltd

ICARUS COMPUTER SYSTEMS LTD. Deane House, 27 Greenwood Place, London NWS INN. Tel: 01-485 5S74. Telex: 264209

• Circle No. 143

85

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Apple

operations

Peter and Owen Benson set up the Apple II as a process controller.

THE GATEWAY between your Apple JI and
the big, wide world outside is that little
socket which lias so far been monopolised
by l he game paddle and joystick. An A/D
converter is built into the Apple, so
analogue signals received through the
games port can be converted into digital
form. They can then be stored or
manipulated by the computer.

The essential component of a games
paddle is a variable resistor or pot-
entiometer, the value of which depends on
the position of the paddle knob. When
reading the games port the Apple checks
the current value of the potentiometer by
measuring how long it takes to charge an
internal capacitor through it. The value
produced is a number between 0 and 255,
corresponding to resistances in the range
zero to 150kS2.

Suppose games paddle 0 is in the middle
of its travel, and you enter the instruction
PRINT PDL (0)

The number 127 appears on the screen. If
you were playing a game, the value of the
paddle setting would not be printed, but
would be used to provide instructions as to
how to move something on the screen.

The Apple obviously has no means of
knowing what kind of resistor is connected
to the Game I/O socket so any resistive
devices can be used instead of a paddle.
There are a huge variety available, but one
of t lie simplest is a thermistor, which is just
a resistor that changes its value according to
its temperature. Thermistors can be bought
for a few pence from electronics stores,
Tandy shops, etc.

Clearly a thermistor can be used to
enable the Apple to measure temperatures,
then graph them, manipulate them or store
them. These values can even be used as
triggers to instruct the computer to switch
heaters, fans or warning devices on and off.

Listing 1 shows a program to take
temperature readings each minute and
graph the results.

As w ritten, the program produces results
in arbitrary units. To give temperatures in
conventional units such as °C or °F you
have to calibrate the thermistor. The first
problem is that thermistors come in a
variety of types. For example, some
increase in resistance as the temperature

Peter Benson is director of studies at
Atglon College, Switzerland.

rises, while others decrease. Either type will
do. The next variable is the thermistor’s
resistance. It is probably best to choose one
with a resistance between 60kG and lOGkQ,
since this is near the middle point of the
Apple’s measuring capacity.

To calibrate the thermistor, place it in
crushed, melting ke to find its resistance at
0°C, and then next to a household

NC

ANO

AN1

AIM2

a m

GC3

GO 1

NC

Pin 1 — + 5V at up to 100mA
Pins 2 to 4 — used for the push buttons
Pins 6, 7, 10, 11 — used for the paddles
Pin 8 — electrical earth
Pins 12 to 15 — annunciator outputs, up
to 10mA

The connector plugs in with pin 1
towards the front of the Apple.
Figure 3, Game I/O connector.

thermometer under a lamp or other heat
source. Allow a few minutes for the
temperature to stabilise in each case.

The Apple has provision for four games
paddles, so it can handle up to four
separate thermistors at once, which are
read by PDL (0), (1 ), (2) and (3), Data from
two sensors could be used to monitor
outside and inside temperatures, or two
chemical baths in a dark-room, and control
heaters accordingly.

You can do a similar sort of thing with
other resistive devices. A light -dependent
resistor, LDR, can be bought from Tandy
for about £1. As the name implies, the
value of the resistor depends on the amount
of light striking it, so you could use it to
monitor light levels, compare the output of
supposedly similar light bulbs, or control
operations in the dark-room.

An LDR can be used to count the
number of times a light beam is
interrupted, since the resistance suddenly
changes when the light is blocked. A
limiting factor here is that the LDR does
not respond instantly, so it can only be used
for events happening less frequently than
about 100 times per minute.

You can use a set-up of this kind in the
physics lab to measure the speed of a mov-
ing cart. The computer starts counting
when the beam is first interrupted, and
stops when the beam is reinstated. By
converting the count value into seconds
and dividing the length of the vehicle by the
calculated time you obtain a very useful
value for its speed. Only one LDR is
needed, and the light source can be daylight
from a window. If possible, choose an LDR
with a resistance of about 80kQ, so that it
normally lies near the middle of the Apple’s
measuring range.

The LDR is also the key to measuring
other factors, which are not in themselves
variable resistances. For instance, a voltage

86

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Interfacing

or current to be monitored can be used to
operate a light bulb or LED which shines
directly on to the LDR, If screened from
the ambient light — you can use a plastic
35mm* film canister — the resistance of the
LDR will vary with the changing voltage or
current, allowing the computer to track it*
The values will not be known directly, but
this is often not necessary.

It is almost as easy for the Apple to
control external electrical devices as it is for
it to receive data. By arranging for it to do
both, the computer can be used to run a
sophisticated control system.

The Game I/O socket includes four
outputs, known as annunciators, which can
be turned on or off by software. They are
labelled AN{G) - (3). The voltage level at
these outputs is normally close to zero, but
when they are turned on the voltage is set to
+ 5V. Suitably buffered for the safety of
your computer, this change can be used to
turn on or off an electrical device.

The command to turn on annunciator (0)
is Poke - 16295,0. Pin 15 then remains at
+ 5V until turned off by the command
Poke - 16296,0* The only complication

arises from the fact that the Apple can only
provide a few millilamps of current, so
some degree of amplification is called for*

In figure l, the annunciator output is
taken to the base of an NPN transistor such
as a 2W-2222, with a relay placed in the
collector circuit of the transistor. When the
+ 5V signal arrives at the transistor base,
the transistor allows current to flow
through the relay coil, which in turn
switches on whatever appliance is
connected to the relay contacts. The power
to operate the relay coil is best derived from
an external source, such as a 9V battery.

In figure 2, complete electrical isolation
is achieved by having the annunciator
output turn on an LED which shines on an
LDR in the control circuit of a similar
transistor. The LED will not draw more
current than the Apple can safely provide*
The optical coupling to the LDR prevents
any expensive surprises which might result
from accidental connections between
the computer and the apparatus being
controlled.

The program in listing 3 could be used to
switch on a fan and give a warning beep if

the temperature rises too high* The value
200 in line 1 10 should be adjusted to suit the
characteristics of your thermistor and the
switch-on temperature required*

The Game I/O connector is shown in
figure 3. In most cases, only four or five
wires will be needed. Since the connector is
small, it is best to keep down the number of
wires and use very thin , stranded wire. The
connection is made using a 16-pin Dip
header obtainable from Tandy, for
example. Carefully solder the wire in place,
using a soldering iron with a very small bit.
If you are a novice with the soldering iron,
be very careful that no solder bridges are
formed which might connect one pin with
another inside the header plug*

A lead length between ISin, and 24in,
should be adequate. You can start by ex-
perimenting with just two wires, connected
to the + 5V on pin 1 and GC(O), pin 6* The
other ends of these wires can be terminated
with insulated alligator clips, or soldered
directly to the thermistor or LDR leads.
Take great care that the bare wires do not
touch each other, or any part of the Apple,
otherwise expensive damage could occur, (JJ

Listing 1 *

Listing 2.

100

REM : PLOT THE GRAPH AXES

100

INPUT "LENGTH OF OBJECT (CMS)

";L

110

HOME

no

REM: CONVERT TO METRES

120

FOR I = 1 TO 20

120

L=L/100

130

IF 1 = 10 THEN PRINT "TEMP”; GOTO 150

130

X = 0

HO

PRINT " 1"

140

REM: P - BASE LEVEL OF LIGHT

150

NEXT I

150

P= PDL(0)

160

PRINT " " ;

160

REM; MONITOR LDR FOR INCREASED RESISTANCE

170

FOR I - 2 TO 15

170

R=PDLC0)

180

PRINT

180

IF R < 1, 1*P G'QT 0 170

190

NEXT I

190

X=X + 1

200

PRINT "TIME (MINS)";

200

R=PDL ( G)

210

FOR I - 26 TO 39

210

IF R > la*P GOTO 190

220

PRINT

220

REM; CONVERT TO SECONDS

230

NEXT 1

230

X=X/67

240

PRINT X" SEC S TI

400

REM; RECORD DATA & DISPLAY

250

REM; CALCULATE SPEED & ROUND

OFF

410

FOR TIME “ 1 TO 30

260

S = I NT ( 1 00* L / X +0 , 5 ) /10Q

420

X = POL (0)

270

PRINT "SPEED = "S 11 M/S EC"

4 30

TEMP = X* (40/255)

280

END

440

REM; CONVERSION FACTOR DEPENDS ON THERMISTOR

Listing 3.

450

VTAB TEMP; HTAB TIME; PRINT "+«

xoo

X = PDL(0)

460

FOR DELAY = 1 TO 46800: NEXT DELAY

no

IF X< 200 GOTO 100

120

POKE -16295,0

4 70

REMt 1 MINUTE DELAY

130

FOR SEEP - 1 TO 50

480

NEXT TIME

140

S = PEEKC-16336)

490

VTAB 23

150

NEXT BEEP

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

87

Table

manners

Call it an array, matrix, vector or what you will, the
humble table is one of the programmer’s best
friends. Mike Lewis explains how to use it properly.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, there are well estab-
lished techniques for sorting, searching and
manipulating tables. Since this column is
dedicated to helping you get the best out of
your programming 1 will be discussing
some of these techniques, as well as other
programming topics, in this and future
issues.

One of the problems that good table
handling can solve is direct access to disc
files by means of a symbolic key. Suppose
you want to access the membership file of
your local tennis club. If each member can
be identified by means of a simple,
consecutive serial number there is no
problem. The Get command in Microsoft
Basic, allows you to read data from disc by
means of a record number, and most other
programming languages allow you to do
the same. So to get member number 5 you
simply read record number 5.

But it would be much more convenient if

you could reach your members 1 records
with an alphanumeric key such as their
initials or their names, rather than by an
impersonal, easy-to- forget number. Some

languages include the means to access files
in this way: the Find command in dBase
and the symbolic key option in Cobol are
examples. But most micro languages do
not, which is where the table comes in.

The first step is to build a table holding
the keys in the same sequence as the records
in the file. Your program must look at
every record in turn, extract the key —
which obviously must have been stored in
the file in the first place — and add it to the
table. The sequence of the records within
the file is immaterial, and the keys do not
all have to be the same lengtii. Then, when
you want to access a specified member’s
record, you search the table for the key.
The position of the key within the table
specifies the member’s record number.

Crude search

The program in listing 1 shows a crude
way of doing a linear search. It is the
simplest possible table search and it
requires no further explanation. You look
at each table entry in turn until either you
find the one you want or, if the key is not in
the table, you drop off the end.

1 have used Basic for this and other
examples because it is still the most widely
known language. It is the technique that I

This column is dedicated to helping you
get the best out of your programming.
Even if you are one of those sensible
micro users who normally tries to avoid
programming at ail costs, please stay
with us as every month Mike Lewis will
be passing on tips for using popular
packages like WordStar, dBase H,
Supercalc and the like.

How to sort the table

Exchange sort. Far and away the easiest sort to code, and also the least
efficient. You compare each pair of adjacent table entries, swapping them
if they are out of sequence. Keep repeating until you have done an entire
pass of the table without any swaps.

Binary insertion. For each entry in turn except the first, look to see where
it fits in the sequence of the entries before it. Move all the entries below
this insertion point down one place, then place the current entry in the gap
thus created. The method is similar to the one you would use to sort a
hand of cards, it can be very fast, especially if a binary search is used to
find the insertion point.

Counting sort. Here the aim is not to put the entries in sequence, but to
determine the ranking of entries within the table. You end up with a second
array, which follows the same sequence as the main tabie and which
contains an integer to indicate the rank — t ss first, 2 = second, etc. — of
the corresponding entry. Compare each entry in the main table with each
of the subsequent entries. For each comparison, increment the count in
the second table that corresponds to the lower of the two entries being
compared.

Heap sort. Put each adjacent pair of entries in sequence. Then merge
each pair with the next pair, creating a run of tour. Merge these four with
the next four to create a run of eight: and so on. This is the most practical
method for very large sorts where the intermediate groupings must be held
on disc files.

Shell sort. Similar to the exchange sort, except that you start by
comparing far-apart elements. It is reasonably fast.

Merge sort. This is another method that comes into its own for large
sorts. Start by loading a small section of the tile into a tabie, and sort it
using any of the previous methods. Write the sorted table to a work file on
disc. Then sort the next section of the original file, but this time merge it
with the work file. Repeat, merging each sorted section with an ever-
increasing work file. After the final pass, the work file will have become a
sorted version of the original file.

Listing 1.

2000 REM — SIZE% is the number of items in the list; . ARRAYS (SIZE%) is the
list; IT 01$ contains the item which we are searching for.

2010 FOR J%=1 TO SIZE%

2020 IF ITEM$=ARRAY$(J%) THEN GOTO 2100
2030 NEXT J%

2040 REM — Come here if required item not found
*«• * * * » * *

2100 REM — Gome here if found; J% is the required record number

88

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

wish to illustrate; the logic can be coded
just as easily in other languages, such as
Pascal and C,

The simple linear search is extremely easy
to program, but it suffers from being very
slow. On average, a successful search must
test half the entries in the table, while an
unsuccessful one must test them all. Most
of the methods of improving the search
depend on the table being pre-sort ed so that
the keys are in ascending sequence, but it is
only worth doing if you are likely to be
performing many searches in the same
session. In fact there are dozens of ways of
sorting a table. Andrew Featherstone
described several of them in a series of
articles “Know Your Sort” published in the
March and April 1983 issues of Practical
Computing , and they are summarised in
the box on the opposite page.

The trouble with sorting the table is that
you can no longer rely on the position of
the key within the table to indicate the
record number* To get round this, you
must keep a separate list of record numbers
which you sort in parallel with the main
table.

Time halved

Once your table is in sequence you can
improve the performance of the search by
branching out as soon as a table entry is
greater than the specified key. This will not
speed up a successful search but it will, on
average, halve the time needed to discover
if a key is absent.

If you are going to the trouble of sorting
the table, you might as well go further and
do a binary search. This is the classic way of
searching a table, and while it is a little

Listing 2*

trickier to code it will greatly improve the
speed of the search.

In the binary search program shown in
listing 2 you start by testing the searched-
for item against the middle entry in the
table* If your key is below this value, you
confine the next stage to the lower half of
the table; if it is above, you confine it to the
upper half. You then test the middle entry
in the chosen half, thus confining the next
stage to one-quarter of the table.

Homing in

You repeat the same process, halving the
search area each time. As you can see, you
very rapidly home in on the required item.
Whatever the size of the table, the number
of comparisons is kept to a minimum,
giving a very fast search.

Another approach to table searching is
the percolated search, which does not
require the table to be sorted. Instead it
takes advantage of the fact that some
entries are accessed more frequently than
others. The percolated search is just like the
simple linear search, except that each time
that you find a hit, you swap the entry with
the one immediately before it. So the more
frequently used elements will gradually
percolate through to the start of the table,
making each subsequent search a little
faster*

This technique really comes into its own
if you can arrange to write the table back to
disc at the end of each session, thus
accumulating the benefit* An idea similar
to percolation forms the basis of the least
used/first discarded algorithm, which has
many uses in programming and will be
dealt with in a later article in this series, Q

When things
crash

l picked up a useful trick from a group
of enthusiasts who revel in the name
CPMUGUK, which stands for CP/ M
Users Group United Kingdom. The idea
is to have a quick way of getting back
into a CP/M program when it crashes
— that is, when a BDOS error or similar
tragedy causes a return to CP/M
command level.

Before you can use this dodge your
disc directory must contain a COM file
of length zero. This is easily achieved by
typing, at command level:

SAVE 0 RESTART.COM
Of course, Restart is just an example*

Any valid name will do.

Next time your program crashes, just
type Restart. The effect is to pass
control back to the program that was
running when the crash took place,
without disturbing the transient program
area, TPA.

With a bit of luck, everything in the
TPA will be just as it was before. For
example, in MBasic your source file and
variables will be preserved. 1 cannot
guarantee that this will work every time,
but think how much aggravation it
could save you when it does.

WordStar wisdom

i have been using Micropro’s WordStar
word-processing package regularly for
the last four years* Yet lam still
discovering new tricks and techniques.

Take, for example, the dummy Find
and Replace, which is useful if you wish
to type a particular word or phrase
many times in the same text. You might
perhaps be writing a thesis on logical
positivism* St would be nice to have a
quick way to type these two words over
and over.

You do it as follows. Enter Control-
QA. WordStar asks

"FIND?”

Press Return, and WordStar asks
"REPLACE WITH?”

Type “logical positivism”, or whatever,
and WordStar asks

"OPTIONS?”
then press Return.

From now on, every time you want to
type “logical positivism”, just enter
Comrol-LY. WordStar interprets the
Control-L as a dummy Find, and it duly
finds whatever is at present under the
cursoi. It then asks if you want to
replace it, and interprets the Y as “yes”,
so the required word or phrase appears
at the current cursor position*

2000 REK — SI2L&, and ITEM* as in

previous examples; a separate
list RECNOJI (3122^) contains
the record numbers, and is in
the same sequence as ARRAY$,

2010 L0W%=0: HIGH%=Sl2E%

2020 WHILE L0W%<=HIGH%

2030 J%= (L0W%+HIGH% >/2

2040 IF ITEM$<ARRAY$(J%) THEM

HIGH%=J%-1

ELSE

IF ITEM$>ARRAY$(J%) THEN
L0W%=J£+1

ELSE

GOTO 2100

2050 WEND

2060 REM — Come here if requ ired Item not found

* m *

m m *

2100 REM Come

here if found: the record number is in RECN0%(J%)

PRACTICAL COM PUT l MG February T 984

89

in many computer applications it is
necessary to keep a list of names.
Common examples include customers and
suppliers for businesses, passengers for
travel agencies, clients for the professions,
and patients for hospitals. This telephone
directory program illustrates some of the
techniques that can be used in managing
and searching such lists.

The program is written for the
40- column Commodore Pet but uses no
machine-specific features of Basic other
than the screen-formatting characters,
which are described in the text. The
program will run in 8K but with a
restricted directory.

One of the problems encountered when
searching name lists is that the name being
sought may not be known precisely. For
instance, my own name is frequently spelt
“Clarke-' or “Clark” and sometimes even
“Clerk or “Clerke”, Clearly when
searching the index it is useful to show all
the entries that are phonetically similar.

The Soundex code has been devised for
this purpose. As implemented in the
program the steps in coding a name into its
Soundex equivalent are as follows:

1 , The first letter of the code is the first
letter of the name.

2, Subsequent letters of the name are
replaced as follows:

B t F, P or V — replaced by P
C, G, J, K, Q p S, X or Z — replaced
by S

M or N — replaced by M
L or R — coded without change
A, E, 1, 0, U, W, H or Y — not
coded

All consonants with similar
pronunciation are grouped together.

3. A sequence of uninterrupted letters of
the same coded value is replaced by a
single code letter, though this does not
include the first letter of the name. It
can be included by changing line 2000
to read

SDS = LEFT$(NM$ P 1}:L$ - SD$:N = 0

4. The code is forced to be exactly four
characters long, either by truncating or
by padding at the right with the letter
A,

The routine to perform the coding is at
lines 2000 to 2160. In the examples shown
in figure 1 phonetically similar names code
identically, though the quirks of English
spelling and pronunciation mean that this
will not always be the case. “Bel voir”
codes to BLPR, whereas it may be
pronounced “Beaver”, which codes to
BPRA. Similarly “Bough” codes to
BSAA but can be pronounced “Boff” or
“Bow”, which have Soundex codes of
BPAA and BAAA respectively.

The Soundex code is sufficient to find
entries in a small personal telephone
directory, but it would only form part of a
search algorithm for a larger index.
Typically such lists are searched in stages,
with the search critieria becoming less rest-
rictive at each stage.

Thus the first stage could be to look for
an exact match on surname, initials, sex

Sounds

familiar

David Clarke programs the Soundex algorithm, which
will find a set of similar-sounding entries.

200 GOSUB400
210 GQSUB680

22B GETIP* IFJP^"r TH£N210
230 I F I P $= " L " THE NGOSUE 80S ; GQTO300
240 I F I P$= " ft " T HENG0 SUB 1000 = GOT 0300
25B IFIP$="F " T HENG0 SUB 1 200 = GOTG306
260 IFIPf»"S M THEHGOSUB 1460 - GOTO 300
270 IF IP* = 11 N 11 THEHGOSUB 1 600 : GOTO300
280 I F I P*= "D 1 " THEHGOSUB 2800 ; GGTG300
290 IFI Pf - " THENGGSUB 1 806 - EMU
295 GOTO 220

300 PRINT M iWENTER CODE FOR HEX! FUNCTION,"

310 PRINTER *1* FOR INSTRUCTIONS" : Li OTO220

410 OPEH1,0 ; RETURN

600 PRINT "TITHE AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS ARE'-"

605 PRINT" WO. - LORD A TELEPHONE INDEX"

61G PRINT-S - SAVE ft TELEPHONE INDEX "

615 PR I NT" N - CREATE hi HEU TELEPHONE INDEX"

620 PR I NT 11 ft - HDD AN ENTRY TO THE INDEX"

625 PRINT "F - SEARCH THE INDEX"

630 PR I NT " D - DELETE ftN INDEX ENTRY"

635 PRINTS ~ END THE PROGRAM”

640 PRINT 11 ! - RETURN TO THIS DISPLAY"

645 PRINT "MKNOW, OR IN RESPONSE TO THE PROMPT'

650 print Enter code for next function,"

655 PR I NT "OR " I FOR INSTRUCT I ONE’ 11

660 PR I NT "CENTER ONE OF THE ABOVE LETTERS"

665 RETURN

800 I FNNO0THENPR I NT LTfiH INDEX HRS ALREADY BEEN LORDED" : RETURN

805 PR I NT "CENTER FILE-NAME": INPUT# 1 , LF$ : PRINT

810 0PEN2, 1,0 : INPUTS FU,FF,NN

320 PR I NT "IMP HE RE ftRE";NNJ " RECORDS OH FILE"

630 PRINT"JSHGW MANY MORE? - INPUT#! , ft# 'N-VRL(ftf) : PRINT
840 B I MTP* < NN+N ) t PTJS CNH+N >

850 IFN=0THEM830

860 FOR I =NN+ 1 TGNN+N-1 : FTX (I )= I +1 - NEXT
870 PTX<NN+N>=FF:FF=NN+1
380 FORI = 1T0NN- INFUT#2. FTX< I >, TP*< I > -NEXT
890 NN=NN+N ; 0L0SE2 ■ RETURN

1000 I F NN = 0T H ENPR I NT 13 IXlS E / N / OR L' TO CREATE OR LORD ft FILE" RETURN
1010 PRINT" rENTER NRI1E, SURNAME FIRST, DO NOT USE" : PRINT "COMMAS " = PRINT
1020 INPUT#1 ,NM# : PRINT

1038 PRINT" SINTER SEX (il OR F OR 0" FOR" : PRINT "DUS I NESSES ETC) H ;

1040 INPUT# 1 > SX$ ’ PR I NT

1 056 IFSXf ' "M" ORSXf- "F"ORSX$- "Q 11 THEN 1070

1068 PRINT" f t\* OR F-' OR "0" FLERSE. REPEAT " : GO TO 10 40

1070 PRINT "CENTER ADDRESS. DO MOT USE COMMAS"

1680 PRINT ■ INPUT# 1 , AD* : PRINT
1090 PRINT" CENTER TELEPHONE NUMBER"

1100 PRINT -INPUT#!, TL*: PRINT
1110 GOSUE2600

1 120 RCf =SD*+NM*+SE*+RD*+SE*+TL$

1130 GOSUB220O

1140 I F ER =0 T HEN UE = 1 1 RET URN

1150 PRTNT'TFILE FULL- ENTER "S" TO SAVE, THEN"

1155 PRINT 11 WE" TO END, RUN THE PROGRAM AGAIN, USE"

1160 PRINT" KMU' TO LOAD THE FILE AND EXPAND IT"

1165 PRINT’^JHEN YOU ARE fiSKED IF YOU WANT MORE

1170 PRINT " MRECG RDS 1 1 i RETUR N

1200 GOSUB3600 1 ND=0

1218 IFERO0THENRETURN

1220 GOSUE2400

1230 IFSB#=LEFT#(TPf£CP> , 52THEN1270
1240 IFNPO0THEN1220

1250 I FND -0THENPR 1 NT " IflNG MATCHES" ■ RETURN
1260 PRTNT J, 3flALL MATCHES FOUND" ■ RETURN
1270 GOSUB2600 :IFNB-6*INT<ND/6>O0TBENi240
1280 PRINT"'XWHIT SPACE TO CONTINUE"

1290 Mfll T594 10,4,4: PRINT 'Ll" : GOTO 1 240
1400 PRINT^NTER FILENAME" : INPUT# 1 , SF* : PRINT
1410 0PEN2, 1 j 1 : PRINT#2,FU; " , ";FF; ", 'L'NN
1420 F0RI=1TCHN PRINT#2, PTA< TP*C I > NEXT

1430 UD=0: CLOSES' RETURN

1600 IFNNO0THENPR lNT ,, :7i'GU ALREADY HAVE A FILE" RETURN
1604 PRINT"[>10W MANY RECORDS DO YOU REQUIRE? ",

90

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Indexing j

and date of birth. IF this failed to produce
the required match, the second stage
could be to search on Soundex, sex, and
year of birth. The particular search
method employed depends on the applic-
ation and the importance being attached

Figure 1.

WATT

WITHE

WAITE

WHITE

WYATT

GURNEY

GRIM

GOREN

GREEN

all code to WTAA

all code to GRMA

to finding exact and dose matches.

Various data structures could be used to
create the index. The simplest would be a
serial array or file. Additions would
always follow the last-used record in the
array , the array having been declared large
enough for anticipated expansions.
Deletions require the index to be searched
for the entry to be deleted , and this set to a
special value such as Deleted or “*% the
null string. IT there are a lot deletions there
will need to be a procedure to recover the
deleted records. Searching the index for all
matches requires every record to be
examined.

A more useful structure is the linked
list. It is used in the program and is a
structure widely employed within more
comprehensive data structures and data-

: GOTO 1605

Key

1605 INPUT#! ,N$-NN=VfiL<N*> PRINT

1610 I FNM C26 OR NN>2 50 T HENP ft I NT " K20- 250 16 THE LIMIT. RE-ENTER
1626 D3 MTP#*; NN ) * PTXCNN)

1630 FU=8-FF=i

1640 FORI =1 JOHN- 1 1 PTSkl >=I+t -NEXT
1650 PTXCNN > =0 - RETURN
18S0 IFUDOl THEN 1 850

1810 PRlNT ,k :iiVQU HAVE CHANGED THE FILE. DO YOU"

1S20 PRINT “WISH TO SAVE IT?"

1830 GE T A# : 1 F Af = " H " THEN 1 350
1840 I FA tO "V a THEN 1 830
1845 GOSUB1400
1850 CLOSE! : RETURN
2800 SD^EFmNM*, mL*=" " : N=0
2010 FOR I -2T0LEN CNM$> = At =M ID* < NM# , 1 , 1 >

2020 I Ffl#= " B " OR A#= " F " DRFfcN " P " ORA#- M V " THENCfa h P 11 : GOTO2090
2030 1 FA#= "C M ORA# = " G " ORfit- n J " GRFI f = " K " THE NC #= "S " UOTO2090
2035 IFAJ= lf T" OR A*= " B"THENC#="T " : GGTO2090
2040 I FR#= M G " ORA# = 11 8 “ 0 R A f “ 11 X " ORfif = " Z " THE NC# = ' 6 S " GOTQ2090
2050 IFfll^ u l1 B 0RR#= lt N i, THENC^ 1 ’t1" ’GOTO2090
2060 1 Fft#= J, L" CRA*= ,t R"THENC#=A$ ’ GOTO2090
2070 1FA#=" " THEN I *99 : G0TQ2 110
20S0 L$- A# : G0T02 110
2090 3FC$=L#TH£N2l 10
2 1 00 SDS=SD#+C# : N-N+l = L#=C#

2110 HEN T

2120 IFN=3THEN2150 Subscript

2130 I FN<3THEN5D# =SD$+LEF T # C 1 * Aflfi " > 3~N> 'G0T02158
2148 3D#-LEFT#<£D#. 4>

2150 SD#=SB$+SX*

2168 RETURN

2208 ER=0 : IFFF-0THENER=1 - RETURN
2210 NP=FU : IP-0 : CP=0 : TP# C FF)=RC#

2220 I FNf -0THEN2280
2230 G0SUB24 00 ! H #=L EFT $ t TP# < CP > * 5 )

2240 I FSB#>R#THEN2220 FF-

2250 IF I P=0TH£NFU“FF ? GQTO2270

2260 ftxcip^ff

2278 N=PTX<FF) r PTX<FF>“CP : FF=N ; GOTO2350
2280 I FGP^0THENFU”FF = 00X02300

2298 PTX<CP>=FF FU-

2308 N=PTX(FF) - PTX<FF>=NP = FF~N GOTO2350
2350 RETURN

2400 I P^CP = CP=NP : NF=PTJ£<CF > = RETURN

2608 RC*=TF#<CP) i L=LENCRC#> = >0 : K=0 . .

2610 FOR I =61 OL used l.st

2620 IFMIDf CRC#, I , I )O"r'THEN2£50 free llst

2630 1 FJ=0THEHJ’ I : GOTO2650
2640 K=I
2650 NEXT

2660 NM#=E1 I D# < RC$ * 6 1 J-6 > : AD# = M IB# ( RC# , J + 1 , K- J- 1 >

2678 TL#=RIGHT#<RC#,L-JO
£680 PR I NT " »" , NM# , TAEC20 > ; TL# ■ PRINT AD#

£690 ND=NB+1 r RETURN
2S80 GOSJJE3080 - I F ER O0 T H ENRE TURN
2810 GOSUE2400

2S20 IFSB#*LEFT#<TP#< CP> , 5 >THEN2850
2830 I FNFO0ANDSD#>= t LEFT# < f P# ( CP > j 5 ) THEN28 i 0
2840 PRINTED MORE MATCHES' 1 : RETURN
2850 PR I NT 'LTWWWT' • GO3UB2600
2868 PR 3 NT " 'ADflDEL E TE THIS RECORD? < / V / OR V N V >

2870 GETR# - IFA#="N"THEN2830
2830 I F A#O n V " THEN2870
2890 lFlP=0THENFU=PTX<CPr GOTO2910
2900 PTXnP>=PT^eCR>

2910 PTX(CP)=FF : FF=CP = TP#CCP>= 11 M UD=1 = RETURN

3006 ER=0 : IFNN=0THENPRINT"POSE 'W OR "L" TO CREATE/LOAD A FILE" =ER-1 RETURN
3810 I FFU=0THENPR 1 NT "tHO RECORDS ON FILE' 1 ER=1 = RETURN
3020 PR I NT 'TENTER HAMEx SURNAME FIRST, DO NOT USE" : PRINT "COMMAS "■ PRINT
3030 INPUI#1 f NM# ; PR I NT

3046 PRINT H CENTER SEX i'W OR 'F' OR "G" FOR" PRINT "BUS I NESSES ETC) *; ■

3050 INPUT# 1 xSX# ' PRINT
3060 I FSX#= jl M " 0RSX#= lf F " 0RSX#= " 0 " THEN308 0
3870 PRINT" 41 OR ^F y OR '0' PLEASE. REPEAT" : GOTO3O50
3080 GOSUB2000 : !P=0 : CP=0 : NP=FU
3090 PRINT'^ 11 : RETURN

base-management systems. A pointer is
added to each record, indicating the
location of the next record in sequence;
the pointer corresponds to the value of the
subscript of the appropriate record.
Because Basic does not allow you to mix
string and numeric variable types the
pointers are held in a sparate array, PT%,
which is maintained in parallel with the
main data array, TPS.

Initially all the dements of the array are
assigned to a free list. The pointer to the
first element in this list is held in FF and
each element of PT^o is set to point to the
next, so:

PT%(1) = 2
PT%(2) ^ 3

the last element in PT% is set to zero,
indicating the end of the list. Another
pointer, FU, gives the subscript of the first
used record. The structure is shown diag-
ram at i cal ly in figure 2.

Any new record is assigned to the
location given by FF, the first record in the
unused record list; it is subscript 7 in the
example. The free-list pointer is then reset
to the value of the pointer corresponding to
this record, 18 in this case.

The new record is linked into the used
list so that records are kept in sequence.
Therefore the pointer for the record of key
GHK is set to the subscript of the new
record 7 and the pointer of this record set
to point to the record 4, formerly pointed
to by GHK.

Deletion of records is simpler. The free-

Po inter

1

JKL

o 4

2

unused

5 !

3

DEF

7 1

4

unused

2 *

5

unused

0 *

6

ABC

3 ‘

7

GHI

1 '

* - J

“1
1 I

-H”

Figure 2,

list pointer FF is set to the subscript of the
record being deleted, while the pointer for
this record is set to the former value of FF,
thus linking the deleted record to the head
of the free list. The record that previously
pointed to the deleted record is set to point
to the record formerly pointed to by the
deleted record. Both these procedures
require additional coding to deal with
addition/deletion to or from the start and
end of the list.

Searching is carried out sequentially
following the pointers. This ensures that
keys are scanned in ascending sequence
and the search is complete when the key of
the record being compared exceeds the key
being sought.

The linked-list structure is quite suitable
1 continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

91

Indexing]

(continued from previous page)
for records held entirely in RAM but
requires the addition of one or more index
when extended to use backing store. It
may still form the basis of such a system,
having the particular virtue of allowing
additions and deletions without major file
restructuring.

The program to implement these
procedures has been constructed in a
modular fashion, as modular prog-
ramming simplifies coding, testing and
subsequent enhancements. The art of
coding is in solving the problem and
designing the solution. The first step is to
define the problem; coding should be left
as late in the programming cycle as
possible. If the program has been well

planned and designed from the outset,
coding becomes a largely mechanical
process.

The next step is to reduce the solution to
a set of modules. At this stage you may
prefer to use a structured pseudo-language
or a flowchart. The main requirement is
that modules should be functionally well
defined and small enough for their
purpose to be clear. It should also be
possible to code each one in a reasonable
number of lines. I always assign routines
to line numbers advancing by 200 and
expect to code the module within the 200
lines with line numbers advancing by 10,
allowing space for 20 lines of code.

In Basic, each model except the
controlling module should be coded as a

subroutine. Because the purpose of the
modules can be clearly stated, and they are
not too large, they should present no
coding difficulties. Furthermore they can
be implemented top-down.

Each subroutine is initially coded as a
stub, which may simply be a Return or
more usefully a line of code to print the
subroutine name and then Return. As each
subroutine is coded it replaces its stub, and
so the program is gradually built up.
Where necessary the stub may set values in
variables to simulate its actual function,
the routines being added and tested one at
a time. As the process continues the
common routines will be frequently used
and you will become increasingly
confident in their correctness. Q

Variables.

NN — number of records assigned to
index

TP$(NN) — telephone index
PT%(NN) — record links t

RC$ — index entry
NM$ — name
SX$ — sex
ADS — address
TL$ — telephone number
SDS — Soundex code
NP — pointer to next record
IP — pointer to previous record
CP — pointer to current record
FU — pointer to first record of index
FF — pointer to first unused record
IPS — * input action key
LF$ — name of file to be loaded
SF$ — name of file to be saved
UD — update flag, set to 1 if file is
created/amended
ER — error flag

ND — number of records being
displayed

SE$ — separator character,

CDS — cursor-movement string
AS, N, I, NS, L$, C$, J, K, L — general-
purpose variables

Routines.

Cursor-movement characters peculiar to
the Pet are shown by codes inside
square brackets. The codes used are:
CD, cursor down, HOM, cursor home;
and CLS, clear screen.

Master Routine, lines 200-310. Calls the
initialisation and instruction routines.
Accepts input of action key and calls
the corresponding routine.

Initialisation, lines 400-410. Sets up
constants and initialises UD to zero,
showing that initially the index does
not require saving. Open 1,0 in line
410 opens the keyboard as an input
device. Data can then be accepted
from the keyboard by Input #1. The
advantage of this is that pressing the
Return key on its own does not cause
the Ready display, but is ignored. The
disadvantage is that a literal prompt
may not be used with input #1 and
the Return which completes entry
does not produce a new line on the
screen. These disadvantages are
easily overcome and are a small price
to pay for a program that does not
leave the user wondering what Ready
means.

Instructions, lines 600-665.
Straightforward display.

Load routine, lines 800-890. NN is
initially zero; if it is not, an index has
already been created/loaded and the
user is told of this. The named file is
opened and read and the user may
extend the file if desired. The
additional records are linked into the
existing ones by lines 860-870.

Add control routine, lines 1000-1170.

Line 1000 ensures records cannot be
added until the file has been loaded
or created. Details of record to be
added are provided for, with error
checking, in lines 1010-1100. Commas
cannot be used in the input strings as
Basic treats a comma as a separator.
Subroutine 2000, called in lines 1110,
creates the Soundex code. Line 1120
creates the record by concatenating
its separate parts. Subroutine 2200,
called in line 1130, adds the new
record into the index. Lines 1140-1170
cope with the File Full condition
detected by subroutine 2200. The user
is asked to save the file and then
rerun the program and expand the file
when it is loaded.

Search routine, lines 1200-1290. Lines
1200-1210 accept the search key.

Line^ 1220-1240 search through the
index one record at a time. The
subroutine at 2400 returns CP with
the pointer to the next sequential
record. Line 1250 detects if there have
been no matches, and displays an
appropriate message showing that
the search was unsuccessful and all
matches have been found. Line 1270
prints the matching record and
checks that the screen is not full. If it
is, lines 1280 and 1290 allow the user
to examine the matches before
displaying the remainder. The Wait
59410,4,4 in line 1290 is specific to
the Pet; it waits for the space bar to
be pressed. If this instruction is not
entered exactly the Pet is liable to
hang on the Wait statement in an
uniterruptible state. Some safer
alternative code is:

1290 GET A$: IF A$<>“ ’THEN 1290
1300 PRINTTCLS1”: GOTO 1240

Save Index, lines 1400-1430. The index
is saved to a named cassette-tape

file. The comma separator between
variables must be forced on to the
tape by including it specifically in the
Print #2 statements.

New Index, lines 1600-1650. Details of
the new file are requested, and the
corresponding arrays are set up.

Lines 1640-1650 link alt the elements
of the array into the unused list.

End routine, lines 1800-1850. The
keyboard file is closed. If the index
has been changed the user is given
an opportunity to save it.

Soundex, lines 2000-2160. This follows
the description given in the text.

Add New Entry, lines 2200-2350. If
FF = 0, line 2200, there are no unused
records and the new record therefore
cannot be added. Line 2210 places
the record in TP$(FF) and sets up a
loop to scan for the correct place at
which to add the record; lines
2220-2240 form the body of the scan.
The scan is left either when the
correct point has been found or all
the used records have been examined
and NP = 0. Line 2250 caters for
addition at the start of the index.
Lines 2260-2270 add the new record
into the index. Line 2280 caters for an
addition to an empty index. Lines
2290-2300 cater for an addition at the
end of the index.

Next Record, line 2400. Resets IP, CP
and NP.

Record Display, lines 2600-2690. The
main part of the routine, lines
2610-2670, separates RC$ into name,
address and telephone number. The
actual display is at line 2680. Line
2690 increments a counter of the
records displayed.

Delete, line 2800-2910. The key of the
record to be deleted is entered in line
2800, and the index scanned to find it
in lines 2810-2840. Lines 2850-2880
give the user an opportunity to
abandon the delete. Lines 2890-2910
delete the record as described in the
text.

Key Entry, 3000-3090. The name and sex
are accepted as input by lines
3020-3070, and the Soundex code is
created by line 3080.

92

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

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Tomorrows

world

de crecy watched Madame Zsa-Zsa’s
ample bosom heaving after their exertions.
Only a true patriot could make t 'amour so
passionately; she could not be an English

spy-

Suddenly the door burst open and the
macho Don Sebastian, Ambassador to
King Philip of Spain, strode in holding his
weapon.

“French whore/’ the Spaniard declared.
“This is how you keep faith with me/'

His rapier rested upon De Crecy ’s nipple.

“Prepare to die, you cur.”

Fearlessly, the brave De Crecy awaited
the final thrust*

INSPIRATION EXHAUSTION
ABORT

shit/’ said Lord Seymore,
monocle fell from his eye.

“Ouch,” said the gold-rimmed monocle
as it hit the floor*

The trappings of his ancient peerage
surrounded him in the library of the
family’s medieval mansion; bookshelves
piled high with fusty books; death watch
beetle tap, tap, tapping overhead; dust
collecting on the disc drives, keyboard, and
VDU, even on Seymore himself* Dirty
sunbeams oozed through dirty window'
panes, staining the floor w r ith anaemic
light.

Seymore had struggled all day dictating
another best-seller into his word processor,
but the story had gone. His second Nobel
prize would have to wait: he could not

afford to buy another one at the moment.

He glanced outside at the police storming
the gates.

“Shit,” he repeated* He slammed the
microphone on to the desk.

“Ouch,” said the microphone.

“Oooh,” squealed the masochistic desk
with pleasure.

Seymore muttered something under his

by Andrew Walker

breath about “goddamn intelligent
machines”.

“Curtains,” he commanded, and the
curtains drew' across the window just as one
of the policemen mounted the fence and
was fried in a laser beam.

“Three- D TV,” Seymore commanded,
swivelling in his chair to face the screen*
The picture was fuzzy. He had had to
repair it himself, because the rental
company was reluctant to lose any more
staff. They were still suing him over the last
five repair men, who had been disintegrated
by his over-zealous bodyguards*

The President was speaking.
“Furthermore,” she said, projecting her
voice across the country, “it is my view —
and the view of the American people —
that this man should not escape
punishment lightly, that his advantaged
position should not afford him the slightest
clemency. Therefore, in accordance, with
the powers vested in me, 1 decree that he

should spend no less than 25 years in the
state penitentiary for the crime of
attempting to pervert the course of
justice*” She paused to allow her audience
to stand and cheer and clap and pick each
other’s pockets.

It was election year and the man she was
sentencing was a senator on her own staff.
He was the vote-saving sacrificial goat. He
had originally been convicted of
underbribing a public official and
sentenced to 50 lashes. Being 93 years old
he had died of exposure the moment his
shirt was ripped from his back*

The public cry of outrage had shaken t he
foundations of the White House* A
presidential aide had gone unpunished: had
his money tipped the scales of justice? Had
the President bent the law to suit her own
ends? Had his lawyers found a new
loophole in the penal system? Rumour
abounded.

Defeat had previously been incon-
ceivable. She had risen to power with a
landslide victory: Mount Rushmore had
mysteriously crumbled and her opponent
was crushed in the rubble of Washington’s
left nostril* She w^as the idol of the
American minorities. Her biograpy showed
her to be black, Roman Catholic and of
Chinese and Puerto Rican descent, which
gave her the backing of 75 percent of the
people*

Despite this, her position had been
threatened by the moral indignation
surrounding the senator’s indiscretions.

94

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

The senator was also disliked by her
biographer, the in Fluent ial chief pro-
grammer for Robo-of-America, who had
designed and still maintained her.

M ad Dan the gardener walked rudely
between Seymore and the television
carrying his blood-stained axe. Tall and
gaunt, he spoke to no one but carried out
his duties while whistling a tune*

He swiped at a fly as he left the room.
The fly dodged*

“Missed me you old . . *” Its curse was
cut short as it Hew into the wall.

It picked itself up, dusted itself off, and
followed Dan from the room into the large
cobweb-ridden hallway* There it ignored
Dan and made for the nearest of the
mousetraps that littered the floor* The
cheese looked good but a mouse beat him
to it and pounced. The trap snapped shut*
“Ouch,” cried the mousetrap.
“Aaaagh,” screamed the mouse, which
otherwise kept its trap shut.

The cook rushed from the kitchen, her
heart set on the fresh ex-rodent .

“Mouseburger and chips for His
Lordship’s lunch,” she chortled, licking
her lips enviously.

The fly, grateful to her for opening the
door, flew into the kitchen. A slab of
steaming red meat lay on the window sill,
playground For a gang of bluebottles and a
million bacteria.

“Lord Seymore — enemy of the
people!” An instinct that had been burned
into his memory flashed before him. His
mission: to assassinate Lord Seymore by
contaminating his food.

T he American Nationalist Army of
liberation had plotted the mass murder
of all imperialist oppressors for 10 years.
They had designed the super bluebottle at a
cost of several billions, and each one was
individually programmed for a specific
target.

The creature’s eyes lit up when he
glanced into the corner where the potatoes
lay in a pile. A soft, warm pile of doggy-
droppings, As he made the approach run

his senses were raised to new heights. The
excrement’s aroma grew, his lust became
insatiable, a tidal wave of desire washed
over him.

INTERRUPT

■COME INTO-MY-PARLOUR'’ WARNING
With a swipe of contempt he brushed aside
his logic chips and landed.

He could not move. With all his might lie
tried to lift his feet but not one of them
would budge. Panic seized him, a
subconscious awareness of danger. He
looked arourid to cry for help . . , his
friends on the sill. He called out. They did
not hear*

A fasHbsing horizon blotted them from
view. This mass that once promised heaven
now threatened hell. It swelled before him,
putrefying as it did so.

And then it was a mountain, towering
above him, engulfing him, burying him in
an insecticidal tomb.

“My god, these fiendish humans,” was
his final thought,

A nd now a word from our sponsors,”
the TV blasted,

Ted Teeth, smiling adman, was earning
another million plugging the latest micro-
products*

“Yes folks, take it from me — it really
fools all known insects. Remember the
name: Crap-a-Fly, the world’s first fly-
catching dog turd. Made by Turdomatic
Inc., a subsidiary of tonight’s sponsors,
Robo-of-America.”

So now f what? Should he return to De
Crecy’s predicament? He shook his head:
not in the mood. What about the children’s
story he was dabbling with? What was it
called? He searched his memory,
drumming his fingers on the desk top,
sending its insatiable sensors into electro-
orgasm*

“Susan the Dragon and the Robot Gang-
bang,” he recalled aloud, it had a certain
ring to it.

Queen Henry was executing orphans lov
not writing games programs on their micro-
computers* Prince Peregrine was playing
Dungeons and Dragons with the real thing,

while King Twit III was molesting sheep on
the croquet lawn.

It was rubbish, Seymore knew r , but that
was what the kids wanted. He just could
not conjure up any enthusiasm for it
though* Perhaps tomorrow.

“I'm not wailing all day,” thought the
microphone, and switched itself off.

He considered setting the machine on
auto* His agent had insisted that he had his
brain profile saved on disc.

Brain profiles were all the rage. Every
cell was copied — the sum total of his
thoughts for the rest of his life. The
computer could use the disc to generate new
ideas, working in parallel on up to four
novels, writing in hours what would have
taken Seymore a lifetime.

Many rejected the whole thing as
inhuman, claiming that literature was the
last bastion of natural creativity and that it
should be defended against the invading
automaton hordes. Most writers set them
to work and retired to live off the 10 best-
sellers a year that they produced*
Unscrupulous publishers killed their
authors, taking the profit from the
obedient, prolific emulators*

“It’ll guarantee this year’s Nobel,”
Seymore pointed out. But he shook his
head. It was too impersonal. He preferred
the human touch.

“Curtains.”

Daylight flooded the room, and before
Seymore’s admiring eyes lay the scenery of
Death Valley* It was all there: the Tower of
London, Buckingham Palace, Ben Nevis,
Blackpool’s Golden Mile: most of Britain
had been shipped to the States, leaving only
Scunthorpe and bits of Manchester behind.

Mad Dan walked across the garden
cutting the grass, short and black as it was*
All the time he looked to the sky. The
flowers were in midsummer bloom with
charred petals on withered stems. The
goldfish were sunbathing, or so Seymore
thought. Actually they had died from
radiation poisoning, which caused them to
glow in the dark, a phenomenon that had
always puzzled him*

(continued on next page)

Fiction

Tomorrow's

world

{ continued from previous page)

Albert was watching the fish: he had
nothing better to do* Being Lord Seymore’s
favourite gnome was no fun; being his only
gnome made it unbearable* The others had
run off because of the conditions and poor
wages* They had gone to work on the Paris
Underground, getting jobs as Metro-
gnomes.

Albert rolled his trousers down and
began defecating on the flowers, A duck-
billed-chicken-rabbit hopped across the
garden, its fluffy feathers ruffled by the hot
nuclear breeze* It was one of the few
Nubreeds still permitted to roam wild.

Amateur Genetic Engineering had taken
off in a big way until the world’s
governments had banned the disastrous
experiments of the less ethically minded
participants. The last straw was the nesting
of the elephant-sparrows, and the terror of
the red-admiral-piranha still lived in the
memories of the survivors.

Seymore himself had built up a large
safari park of these quirks of science* His
rhinocerhorse, resembling the unicorn of
legend, had been a great crowd-puller,
while around thanksgiving the delicious
octopus-turkey sold well to large families
who all wanted a leg.

“Quack,” said the lion-giraffe-duck.
Despite government orders, Seymore
refused to destroy all his creatures. It bit
Albert’s head off.

“Ouch,” cried Albert’s head, the cry
echoing down the long throat as he slid
slowly along. His body squatted above the
flowers, nonplussed, wondering where his
head had gone*

A laser flash caught Seymore’s eye. The
security team was defending his
freedom again* Police Commissioner
Macdonald had been converted to a heap of
cinders as he dropped over the fence, shot-
gun in hand.

Seymore tut-tut led. All that money in
bribes and this was how the likes of
Macdonald repaid him.

.“Damned unemployed scroungers,” he
cursed*

Ever since he had been replaced by
Commissioner Macrobot, Macdonald and
his men had lain seige to the Seymore
estate.

Seymore had never understood people’s
rejection of phased leisure progression.
Why work when the government was

willing to let you retire and have a machine
to do your job? He shook his head in
wonder.

The police no longer had to face day-to-
day dangers: no more homicidal maniacs,
no more shootouts with liquor-store
robbers* Anyway, most of the big-time
crooks had robots of their own built to do
the jobs for them.

Who else was out there? Seymore panned
the camera. It was hard to recognise
anyone, charred and bloodied as they were
from the pounding they were taking from
the Cybercops*

The media were there in force with their
autofocus, remote-control cameras,
relaying live television picutres and their
image-translators that turned the pictures
into the written word for the newspapers.
Vultures gorged on the carrion of the day’s
crises* The auto-reporters paid particular
attention to the old journalists, who with
the ex-cops and others were trying to tear
down the fences.

Le Blanc was there, the physicist famous
for perfecting hand-held laser weapons*
Wilson and Tate, the science-fiction
writers, had reached the inner perimeter but
had fallen into the clutches of the voracious
dob erman -cock roaches and were quickly
being devoured by the seven -feet -wide
genetic abominations. The members of the
Computer Programmers Union had long
since perished in the same way.

The defences were gradually being
overwhelmed as more of the rioters climbed
over the wires, pushing the Cybercops back
step by step, drowning them in numbers.

T he drone of engines caught everyone’s
attention. The fighting stopped, all eyes
cast to the sky. Mad Dan burst into aimless,
rabid action*

The aeroplane came out of the sun,
unmarked and mysterious. As it passed
overhead, a single parachute began to
descend. A deathly silence fell over the
Valley* Rioter and Cybercop stood side by
side* The chilling thought ran through all
minds: “Was it the enemy’s super-
bacteria? Was this the end of the world?”

Lives flashed before eyes* Who would
remember them when tomorrow had
come? The insignificance of their existence
hit them like a slap in the face. How could
they start again, afresh? Images of what
could have been, what still could be,
reflected in the tear-stained mirrors of their
eyes, shining through the dim myopia of
reality. But it was too late.

The package cradled beneath the
parachute landed with a thud* Mad Dan
ran forward through the concentrated gaze

of the onlookers, ripping it open to reveal
the coffin-like box within. He prised the lid
up and stopped, wide-eyed.

She was beautiful: an Amazon* He
pulled her from the container and stood her
up to admire her full glory* “I’m gonna
turn you on, baby,” he promised lear fully.
His hand strayed nervously to her left
breast, and with a hasty jab of his finger he
flicked the bright red switch on the nipple*
She simmered into life, stretching
felinely, displaying every elegant sensuous
curve* “Hello Big Boy,” she oozed, letting
rip with a slow, deliberate wink. “Robo-of-
Am erica made me yesterday. You can
make me today*” She was barely able to
keep her feet as Dan dragged her home,

A wave of relief washed over the rioters.
It had not been the super-bacteria after all.
When tomorrow came they would still be
there. They could build a new tomorrow*

L e Blanc started it. He lashed out at the
nearest robot with a length of broken
gatepost. The victim crumbled to the
ground and pandemonium broke out all
around. As the blood poured from the
shattered skull Le Blanc realised that he
had made a mistake.

“Ouch,” cried the fence as it fell down
under the weight of the Artists Against
Robots society* Le Blanc’s head skimmed
across the grass, severed from its shoulders
by the slash of a razor-sharp laser, and
landed at the feet of a guard-roach.

“Gulp. Yummy,” said the Doberman
cockroach as it licked its lips.

The Nuke Warning light suddenly
flashed red. Lightning instincts crashed
Seymore’s fist on to the Alert button*
“Ouch,” screamed the button*

Sirens wailed, blast-proof shutters
clamped down on doors and windows. The
Cybercops stopped beating the invaders
and retreated to the safety of the fallout
shelters. The guard-roaches withdrew into
the woodwork. The rioters simply stopped,
puzzled, looking for something to fight.

Seymore was livid: this was an
unscheduled attack and a blatant
infringement of the right to riot.

Silence fell on the rioters, then death*
Through heavily filtered screens
Seymore watched the Hash of the bomb*
Then the crowd outside melted away.

“Unemployment Down,” cried the
headlines.

Albert ran blindly for his own shelter,
but without a head he bumped into trees,
ricocheting like a pinball until at last he fell
into the pond. Seymore sadly watched his
last gnome turning to jelly in the intense
heat* . Q

96

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 7984

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• Circle No, 148

56-way I.D.C. connector and ribbon cable
assembly, designed and manufactured by
Varelco in conjunction with C.P.S. Ltd., to fit the
Sinclair Spectrum computer.

Available in both single and double end format.
Also available, paddle board to convert female
connector to male plug format.

Please send me the following:
6' grey cable with
connector each end

9" grey cable with
connector each end

9' colour coded cable
with one connector

12* colour coded cable
with one connector
Connector only

Paddle board for conversion
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Prices include VAT and Post & Packing

I enclose cheque/PO value £ _

Block capitals please

Name

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here

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each

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• Circle No. 150

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 7 984

97

Isn't it time you stopped
running your computer
at printer speed?

In ten seconds , your computer can output
enough print data to keep your printer busy
for five minutes, or longer.

Instead of waiting around for the printer,
you could install a print buffer, and free your
computer for its next task in seconds.

Print buffers take care of the printing
— and the waiting. And the more you print ,
tiie more time a buffer will save.

Buffers for any combination of micro and printer/
plotter. Internal buffers for Epson printers; Apple
Computers. In-line' buffers for IBM PC, Sirius,
Commodore 20/40/ 80 series, Super Brain, BBC,
Tandy, etc.

H

Data transfer in RS232c serial, Centronics-
parallel, IEEE-488 formats. Protocol conversion.

RAM sizes from 2K to 256K.

A>Line Computer Systems

1 Church Farm Lane,
Willoughby Waterleys,
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Telephone:

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• Circle No. 151

256 K RAM • Dual 315 K drives both
upgradable 001100116111 CP/M and MS-DOS

Sanyo MBC 1150 £1695

64 K • CP/M • Dual disc drives 320 K

Osborne 01 & Exec £call

Epson HX2Q QX10 . from £411

FREE bundled software with every
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On site training, servicing and support.

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MK18 1EZ (0280) 816087

Circle No. 152

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presentation packs and sleeves printed in one to four colours.

• Circle No. 153

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

F!a J]pyni, c

“•wffi, 01 ™

98

Pocketables

Shrinking

the

computer

Ian Stobie discusses squeezing the computer into a
calculator’s shell in an examination of 10 pocket-sized
battery-powered machines with Basic.

POCKET COMPUTERS do not seem to have
caught the popular imagination in the way
home micros, office personal computers
and even the larger-sized portable
computers have done. It sems that there has
to be a certain necessary power crammed
into the package before you have a
computer worth anyone's while. Until
recently the bottom limit has been machines
like the Epson HX-20 and Tandy Model
10G, which have full-sized keyboards and
reasonable sized displays. Their main
advantage is that you can also run practical
so ft w are o n su c h mac bines without h a v i ng
to write it yourself.

But a new wave of technical advance is
beginning to transform prospects for the
very small computer- The notebook -sized
Husky Hunter packs CP/M into its small
2.51b* bulk, and as capable of running
WordStar or Supercalc just as fast as the
desk-top Sirius I am using now. VisiCalc,
the genuine article from Visicorp, can be
run on the lighter weight Hewlett-Packard
75C. Admittedly these two machines are
the most expensive in this survey, but now
is a convenient time to take a look at what is
available over the whole range of pocket
computers, from super-calculator to super-
compressed office system.

Battery powered

For the survey we are defining the pocket
computer category to include all machines
which oTfcr a version of the Basic
programming language, which are battery-
powered with at least one working day’s
battery life, but which are too small to have
a full-sized keyboard* Rather than quibble
about the size of the standard pocket
computer we will include anything with a
keyboard smaller than the standard
typewriter — calculators are excluded
because they lack Baste.

The machines in this survey find at least
two distinct kinds of use- Commercial
organisations and even the military are
using the two successful Sharp machines
and the Hunter for data collection, as well
as calculation "in the field”. Here a prime
requirement is to have some means of
storing the data collected — micro-cassettes
in the ease of the Sharps and battery-
backed RAM in the case of the Hunter. The
Other major use for pocket computers is as
super-calculators, which are used pre-
dominantly on the desk top, but can be
moved around.

Machines like the smaller Casios are
adequate in the super-calculator role. But
some people are tempted to buy such
machines as a cheap introduction to
programming, and it must be said that the
mains-powered home computers from the
ZX-S1 upwards offer a preferable buy,
with their better display, sound facilities,
vast range of entertainment software and
heavy support from specialist magazines.

Battery-powered portability is not worth
paying for if you do not want it, since at
present the low power consumption CMOS

Suppliers

Canon X-07 Canon (U.K.) Ltd* Waddon
House, Stafford Road, Croydon GR9
4DD. Telephone: 01-680 7700.

Casio Casio Electronics Co Ltd, Unit 6,
1,000 North Circular Road, London
NW2 7DJ. Telephone: 01-450 9131,
HP-75C Hewlett-Packard Ltd, PC Group,
King Street Lane, Winnersh,
Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 5AR,
Telephone: (0734) 784774.

Husky Hunter Husky Computers Ltd, PO
Box 135, Foleshill Road, Coventry CV6
5RW. Telephone; (0203) 668181.

Sharp PC-1251, PCM5Q0 Sharp
Electronics (U,K.) Ltd. Sharp House,
Thorp Road. Manchester M1Q 9BE.
Telephone: 06F205 2333,

Texas CC?40 Texas Instruments Ltd,
Manton Lane, Bedford MK41 7PA.
Telephone: (0234) 67466,

technology used in battery-powered com-
puters is slower and more expensive than
conventional NMOS. Major investment
has been going into CMOS, and it is now
producing results in the form of cheaper
and faster circuits.

Portable Hat -screen display technology is
also improving fast, with larger LCD arrays
coming in further up the market on
machines like the Gavilan, Tandy Model
100, Olivetti MUQ and NEC PC-8201.
Already Hitachi has a Hat-screen TV at the
experimental stage.

Finally, various technologies are being
explored to get rid of conventional cabling.
This offers great advantages for portable
computing* The Canon X-07 we have in the
office is connected to its mains-powered
printer by an infra-red link.

Seiko is introducing a product in Japan
in early 1984 which takes matters a step
further. Using the induction loop principle,
Seiko designers have built a pocket
computer split into three components, just
like a miniature conventional office
computer but without the cables. The
processor and 2K of user RAM fit in a box
measuring 5*5in* by Sin. which goes on the
desk, or into a briefcase or pocket; a
completely detached mini-keyboard fits
into a shirt pocket, while the display can be
worn, watch -like, on the wrist*

The Seiko "wrist computer” is program-
mable in Microsoft Basic and features a
tiny printer built into the system box. The
Japanese price works out at around £160.
At the moment Seiko in the U,K* pleads
ignorance about any wider marketing
plans, but if the idea proves successful in
Japan we can expect other multi-pocket
computer systems.

Details of our top 10 pocketables can be
found overleaf. All prices are for
unexpanded systems: for the Husky Hunter
and HP-75C they do not include VAT;
prices for Casio and Sharp machines are
VAT inclusive, Q

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

99

CANON X-07

around £200

If you have room in your pocket for a hardback novel then you
could carry an X-07 around instead. The LCD screen shows
four lines of 20 characters, and it is just possible to touch-type
on its 10mm. -wide button keys. The standard machine has
6,6K of RAM free to an enhanced Microsoft/Canon Basic.
Battery-backed memory-expansion modules — the size of
credit cards, but thicker — slot in the back. The X-07 is well set
up as a system machine via its cassette port, serial port,
parallel printer port and expansion port. It can communicate
with Sts own peripherals, including four-colour mains-powered
printer/plotter, via an optional infra-red module. Unfortunately,
no U.K. version has been produced, but we live in hope.

For Expandable
system. Novel
features such as RAM
cards and infra-red
communications.

Against. Not

available. Canon
(U.K.) may decide not
to import it.

CASIO PB-100

£49.95

A straightforward machine, the PB-100 is aimed at the
beginner. It is the size of a largish calculator at 6,51 n, by 2.75in„
there is a small QWERTY keyboard with separate numeric
keypad and a 12-character LCD display. The PB-100 comes
with the simple Casio Basic in ROM. and IK of RAM.
expandable to 2K by adding a £14 module. The user manual is
particularly good. Up to ID programs can be held in memory
while the machine is switched off. Numeric results are
displayed to 10 significant digits but string handling is limited.
A cassette interface costs £26: the printer is £60

For. Low cost. Good
manual. Better than a
calculator.

Against. Limited
memory expansion.
No string handling in
Basic.

CASIO FX-700P

£59.95

This is the same machine as the PB-100 with a similar Basic,
but more technically biased. For the extra money you get
single-key entry of scientific functions and 2K of RAM. which
is not expandable. The FX-7QQP is good for numerical work —
much simpler to program than a calculator — but the Casio
Basic is limited. You are only allowed one siring variable,
limited to 30 characters, and there are no sub-string
manipulation functions. You can use string constants in Print
and input statements. The FX-700P will accept the same
peripherals as the PB-100. including cassette interface. No
commercial software is available, but a book of useful
program listings is supplied with the machine.

For. Scientific
functions. 2K of RAM,

Against. No further
memory expansion.
No third-party
software.

CASIO PB-300

£99.95

Similar to the PB-100 but with a slightly larger QWERTY
keyboard and numeric keypad, a built-in printer and more
memory. The 20-column printer uses 38mm r rolls of thermal
paper, Basic and display are the same as Ihe PB-100. Standard
RAM is 2K, but is no! expandable. An optional interface
costing £26 lets you save and store programs and data on a
standard audio cassette recorder. The PB-8Q2P is a scientific
version of the PB-300.

For. Good manual.
Built-in printer.

Against, Limited
string handling.

CASIO PB-700

£139

Top of the small-key Casio range, with a larger display, more
memory and a wider range of peripherals. The LCD panel
shows four fines of 20 characters or 32 by-160 dot graphics.
Standard memory is 4K. expandable to 16K internally. The
Basic includes plotting commands and string functions like
Lefts, MidS, Rights and InkeyS. An optional battery-powered
slip-on four-colour printer/plotter costing £179 also provides
an interface to a domestic audio cassette, or for £70 you can fit
the Casio micro-cassette deck to form a single battery-
powered unit. Other options include Centronics-type parallel
printer port.

For. Better Basic.
Larger screen. Good
peripherals.

Against. Small keys.
Little third-party
software. No RS-232
option.

100

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1 984

Pocketables: top lOt^m

For. Excellent Basic.
Optional VtsiCalc.
Versatile HP-IL
interface*

Against. Expensive*
Software and
peripherals are
expensive too.

For. Good Basic.
Printer/plotter and
RS-232 options.
Software.

Against. Small keys.
Micro-cassette would
be an asset.

For. Fast. Very tough,
Vast CP/M software
base.

Against. Price.

For. Good Basic. Neat
printer/cassette
option. Commercially
available software*

Against. Limited
maximum memory*

HEWLETT-PACKARD 75C £763

Luxury machine with wide range of battery-powered add-ons;
it measures 10in. by 5in. The HP-75C has emulator-style keys
with almost typewriter spacing, and a single-line 32-character
LCD display. Standard 16K of RAM is expandable to 24K. The
48K of ROM contains a very powerful Basic with 12-digit
numeric precision and good diary/alarm and address-list
programs. Genuine VisiCalc is available on ROM for £154. The
built-in card reader lets you store 1 *3K per thin magnetic card*
Wide range of mainly technical software available on cards or
on ROM chips. The HP 75C comes fitted with an HP-IL socket
which connects it to a wide range of HP plotters, printers,
measuring instruments, a fufl-size display and larger HP
computers.

HUSKY HUNTER

£997

The smallest battery-powered machine to offer CP/M. It
measures 8.5in, by 6m. and is housed in a rugged cast-
aluminium case with a sealed, waterproof keyboard. The eight-
line by 40-character LCD display can also show 64-by-240 dot
graphics. Standard RAM is 80K* expandable to 208K, some of
it configured as a silicon disc, CP/M 2.2 and Microsoft Basic
are supplied in the machine's 48K ROM. The NSC800 4 CMOS
CPU runs at 4MHz, so it is no slower than an eight-bit mains-
powered micro. RS-232 interface included as standard for
linking to printers and other computers. Options include
modem and mains-powered disc drive*

For. Excellent Basic.
Range of peripherals.

Against* Not yet here,
a year after
announcement.

TEXAS CC-40 aorund £170

Long delayed machine first announced in February 1983;
should be available in 1984 according to Texas Instruments. It
runs an eight-bit CMOS CPU with 6K of RAM, expandable to
16K; the 34K of ROM contains a very comprehensive Basic.
ROM software cartridges of up to 128K can be slotted in to the
right of the 31-character LCD. The CC-40 weighs 1*3Eb. and
measures 9.5in by 5.75in. and is designed to have a large
family of battery-powered peripherals including a 36-character
four-colour printer/plotter, a stringy-floppy drive similar to the
Sinclair Microdrive, and a combined RS-232 and parallel
printer interface. We were allowed to examine a sample
machine East year, so the CC-40 is not a complete myth.

Compact enough to fit in a jacket breast pocket this smaller
companion to the successful PC-1500 also has good
expansion options. It measures 5,25in, by 2.75 in. The standard
machine has a 24-character LCD and comes with 4.2K of RAM.
A powerful Basic comes in 24K of ROM, offering two
dimensional arrays, scientific functions and a full range of
string operations. An optional battery-powered clip-on unit
costing £99.95 adds a 24 character thermal printer and a
micro-cassette drive. This expanded system has been taken
up by commercial users particularly in the financial and
engineering fields, A number of third-party programs are
available on micro-cassette.

SHARP PC-1500 £169.95

Longer established than the PC-1251 and offering a wider
range of peripherals* greater memory expansion and a larger
base of independent software* It measures Sin* by 3. Sin. and
has a 26 character LCD display. The standard 3.5K RAM is
expandable to 11. 5K; the 16K ROM contains a powerful Basic
with full string handling, arrays and scientific functions. A
range of scientific, engineering and financial programs are
available on plug-in ROMs, The £14995 printer/plotter unit
uses a four-colour ball point pen carouse! mechanism and
also provides a cassette interface. Other battery-powered
options include a combined RS-232 and parallel interface
suitable for connecting larger computers or modems. Tandy
sells the same machine for £159 as the Tandy PC-2.

SHARP PC-125

£79.95

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

101

Many-legged

beasties

Ray Coles reveals what goes on inside those little black rectangular packages

sitting on the circuit board of your micro.

THE TALE of the chip began back in 1948
when the first transistor was made in the
U.S. Researchers in both the U.K. and
abroad soon realised the potential of this
new solid-state component as a switch
to replace the bulky and unreliable
electromagnetic relays and thermionic
valves then used in the digital computers of
the day. It was this breakthrough more
than any other which turned laboratory
curiosities into the powerful data-
processing machines which have become so
indispensible.

Transistors may have made the digital
computer a practical proposition, but the
machines they were used in were by no
means easy to live with. They were so
enormously expensive that only large
government or industrial concerns could
even dream of tapping their problem-
solving potential. Before long, however,
semiconductor manufacturers packaged
several transistors together on a single sliver
of silicon. There they formed a complete
functional circuit such as a logic gate* the
basic building block of the computer.

These integrated circuits revolutionised
the design and manufacture of computers.
This eventually led to the introduction of
minicomputers in the mid 1960s which, for
the first time, brought data processing
into smaller companies and scientific
laboratories. The great benefits of these
miniature circuits with such low price tags
created a tremendous pressure to squeeze
more and more transistors on to a single
chip. The so called small-scale integration,
SSI, of the logic gate soon led to the
medium-scale integration of the counter or
register, and beyond.

At this point the semiconductor
manu facturers began to turn away from the
conventional bipolar transistor. The new
breed of field-effect transistors were
simpler and smaller, which allowed even
more functions to be sqeezed on to silicon
chips now containing over 1,000 transistors
each. Thus large-scale integration, LSI,
was born. With several thousand
transistors to play with* complete
functional systems such as the innards of an
electronic calculator could be built with
only one integrated circuit. It was not long
before Intel realised that a calculator could

be transformed into a general-purpose
computer.

The first device which was actually given
the name “microprocessor” was the Intel
4004, This four-bit general-purpose digital
processor was first designed for a calculator
manufacturer which wanted to be able to
reprogram its calculator chip to produce
variations on the theme. Along with a few
other pioneers who bought the new device
for use in non-calculator applications, Intel
soon realised the potential of this new
general-purpose digital component.

By the mid 1970s Intel had introduced its
eight-bit 8080A microprocessor. It had
many features in common with the

CPU chips

INTEL 8Q80A, page 106
Used fn: S I 00 micros

2! LOG Z-80, page 107
Used in: Camputers Lynx, CiferClub,
Gemini, Galaxy, Osborne. Rair Black Box.
Research Machines 3802. Sinclair
ZX-80/81 and Spectrum, Sord M-23,
Superbrain. Tandy Models 1, 11, III and IV,
Video Genie

IViOS TECHNOLOGY 6502. page 108
Used in: Acorn Atom. Acorn Electron. Aim
65. Apple models I, II and III. Atari. BBC
Micro. Commodore Pet. Commodore
Vic- 20, One

MOTOROLA 6809. page 109

Used in: Dragon. Tandy Color Computer

TEXAS 9900, page 110
Texas Home Computer

INTEL 8088. page 1 1 1

Used in; ACT Sirius. DEC Rainbow, IBM

Personal Computer. Sharp PC 5000, Texas

Professional

MOTOROLA 68000, page 112
Apple Lisa, Bleasdale BDC 680, Britannia
Baby, Torch 700, Hewlett-Packard 9826
and 9836

ZILOG Z-8000, page 1 1 3

Used in: forthcoming Commodore system

minicomputers of the day, including a 64K
address range, a unified data and
instruction memory space and an extensive
repertoire of 78 different instructions.
Although some diehards still felt that such
a puny computer would never catch on,
others saw the writing on the wall and
began to dream up new applications for the
microprocessor.

The concept of a microprocessor-based
personal computer appeared around this
time. The precedents set by existing
computers were still a powerful influence
and early designs looked just like their
larger cousins. They used separate
teletypewriter terminals, alongside paper-
tape readers and square CPU cabinets
containing rows of individual plug -in
circuit boards, it was not the sort of thing
for the average living room or office.

Seeing the success of the 8G80A* many
other semiconductor manufacturers were
hard at work to do better, and Motorola
had some early success with its 6800, which
needed less peripheral circuitry than the
Intel device. The two microprocessors
which had the greatest effect were the Zilog
Z-8G and the MOS Technology 6502.

The Z-80 caused quite a stir when it was
introduced in 1977. Its advanced features
included a very powerful instruction set,
extra registers and a sophisticated interrupt
structure. Its compatibility with the 8080 A
provided it with a ready-made market as a
replacement for the Intel device. The
CP/M disc-operating system software,
designed originally for the 8080A, could be
used unmodified with the Zilog processor.
Z-80 sales took off like a rocket.

In the same way that the Z-80 was
designed as an improved 8080 A, the 6502
was produced as a competitor to the 6800.
It is to this processor that the honour must
go of sparking off the concept of personal
computers as we now know them. The
simple but powerful architecture of the
6502, optimised for use with high-level
languages such as Basic, proved to be just
the thing for Commodore Business
Machines to use in its now famous Pet.

The separate functional units typical of
the big computers were replaced by an
integrated system with built-in keyboard*
VDU screen and cassette-tape unit. Instead

102

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1934

GROUND (0 Volts)

VSS t

i 40

] RES

RESET INPUT

WAIT CONTROL LINE

RDY [

] 02 (OUT)

CLOCK PHASE 2 O/P

CLOCK PHASE 1 O/P

01 (OUT) [

3 SO

SET OVERFLOW

INTERRUPT INPUT

IRQ t

] 00 (IN)

CLOCK OSCILLATOR I/P

UNUSED

N.C. [

] N.C.

UNUSED

NON-MASKABLE INT.

NMI [

] N.C.

INDICATES START OF CYCLE

SYNC [

3 R/W

READ/WRITE

+ 5 Volts

VCC E

3 DO

>

6502

A0 E

] D1

r

A1 t

] D2

BI-DIRECTIONAL

A2 E

] D3

DATA BUS.

ADDRESS

BUS. SENDS

A3 E

] D4

* CARRIES

8 BIT DATA

OUT 16 BIT

A4 [

] D5

TO/FROM MEMORY

ADDRESS TO

A5 E

3 D6

MEMORY AND *

A6 [

] D7

>

I/O DEVICES.

A7 [

3 A15

A8 E

3 A14

ADDRESS BUS

A9 t

3 A13

(continued)

A10 t

3 A12

All [

20 21

3 VSS

GROUND (0 Volts)

The 6502. like many other microprocessors, is housed in a 40-pin plastic dual-in line package measuring
2in. by 0.6in. The semiconductor chip itself is in the centre of the package and measures typically Q.3in.
square: most of the package volume consists of just plastic or metal frame. Much smaller packages are
therefore possible, and are available for high-density applications. Sonne 16-bit microprocessors may
need more than 40 pins, and this has triggered the development of much larger packages One trick
commonly employed to reduce the number of pins is to multiplex or time-share the data and address-
bus pins. This demands additional circuitry to de multiplex the information outside the microprocessor
package.

of loading the Basic interpreter into RAM
from a paper tape or cassette the operating
system and a Basic were inside the machine,
stored in permanent ROM. Best of all, the
concept of separate plug-in circuit boards
for CPU, memory and I/O functions had
gone. Although this reduced flexibility it
cut costs dramatically. For the first time,
the smallest business budget could with-
stand a computer, and schools and some
lucky households could afford them too.
Alongside the Pet, Tandy's TRS-80 with its
Z-8G processor and the 6502-based Apple
led an American personal-computer boom.

Home users

In Britain Sinclair Research introduced a
computer aimed for the first time at High
Street stores and the ordinary consumer.
The educationally sophisticated but
relatively impecunious British home
market helped Sinclair create a brand-new
low-cost computer formula, turning the
tables on the Americans and the Japanese.
Where Sinclair led, other British brand
names in the computer stores, like Oric,
Dragon and Lynx, have followed into the
burgeoning computer departments of the
country's chain stores.

Meanwhile there was brisk business back
at the semiconductor manufacturers, and
the resulting profits led to massive
investment in the development of new and
more exotic microprocessor chips. Eighi-
bit designs like the Z-8G and the 6502 are
now cheap and easy to make, and
semiconductor technology has moved on to
provide smaller geometries and more
transistors per chip. The 8080A and its
contemporaries had from 5,000 to 10,000
transistors on a chip. Today 50,000 to
100,000 is routine, and by the end of the
decade, microprocessors with 1 ,000,000
transistors will be commonplace.

There is always a time lag before a new
device appears inside a commercially
available microcomputer, but 16-bit
microprocessors have already provided
another quantum jump in processing
power since the advent of the first personal
computers.

Eight-bit data words can represent a
single ASCII character or provide a
numeric resolution of one in 256. They are
about the smallest units that can usefully be
employed in a practical data processor. But
eight-bit resolution is not adequate for
most numeric applications, so even in eight-
bit machines multiple operations are

necessary to achieve the more usable
arithmetic precision of 16 or 32 bits. So for
every simple calculation made by the Basic
interpreter, several eight-bit operations
have to be performed one after the other,
which slows things up considerably.

Extra goodies

Though improved computational per-
formance is the main driving force behind
the move to 16- or 32-bit microprocessor
chips, many other benefits are provided
too. With 16 bits to play with, more
instruction codes become possible and lots
of new features can be added to the
instruction set. As the data bus becomes
wider so does the address bus, and the 64K
maximum memory map exands to a
megabyte or more.

The technology which manages to
squeeze a 16-bit processor on to a chip also
allows features such as extra registers and
hardware multiply/divide units to be
incorporated. As a result, the 16-bit
microprocessor is much more than twice as
powerful as its eight-bit predecessor.

The first 16-bit processor to see wide use
was the Texas 9900. It appeared early
(continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

103

Many-legged

beasties

(continued from previous page }

because Texas decided to miss the eight-bit
evolutionary step altogether. This proved
popular in embedded computers for
avionics and the like, and was built into a
home computer by Texas itself. It never
really caught on, perhaps because of its
unusual architecture based on the Texas
990 family of minicomputers.

The first 16-bit device to achieve real
prominence was the $088/8086 family from
Intel. This company is still a market leader,
after the success of the 8080A and its
successor the 8085. The 8086 provides the
power of a mid-range minicomputer from a
single 40-pin plastic package with a 16-bit
time-multiplexed data and address bus.
Though the 8086 package is no bigger than
that used for earlier eight -bit devices, 20
address bits are available to provide access
to I Mbyte of memory. Its only major
limitation is that its internal addressing
techniques restrict access to four 64K
segments at a time.

The cost-sensitive personal-computer
market was not really ready for the 8086
when it first appeared, so Intel launched the
cut-down 8088 at almost the same time.
The 8088 is cut-down in only one sense: it
uses an eight-bit data bus in place of the 16
bits of the basic 8086. Inside the 8088 is a
complete 8086 16-bit processor with a full-

How it works

> OUT

IN

When the microprocessor is powered-up or reset it wakes up in a
predefined state and begins to fetch instructions from memory and to
execute them. The rate at which it does this is determined by the crystal-
controlled clock oscillator which is used to synchronise alt activity. The
processor fetches an instruction from ROM or RAM memory by issuing an
address on the address bus and then reading the instruction it has
addressed into its internal instruction register via the data bus. What the
processor does next depends on the instruction to be executed, but
instructions may involve internal arithmetic and logical operations, or
further external bus activity in transferring data to or from the RAM
memory or input/output ports. Since the address bus is always driven by
the processor it is uni-directional, but data may be transferred in either
direction on the bi-directional data bus. The amount of memory which can
be accessed by the processor is determined by the address-bus width,
which is usually 16 bits for eight-bit processors. The “eight-bit” label
actually refers to the width of the data bus which determines the precision
of the data which can be handled in one transaction. The main
reason that the newer 16-bit machines are more powerful is that they can
transfer data twice as fast. In most cases they also have an address but
which is more than 16 bits wide, so that they can reach more than 64K.

Memory and peripheral chips

For every processor sold, at least eight memory devices
are sold too. Not suprismgly, therefore, this market is
even more important to the manufacturers than that for
microprocessor chips. Advances in technology have
been very rapid. The 4Kbit chips which were available in
the heyday of the 8080A became 16Kbit devices for the
Z-8Q; now 64Kbits is the norm for new machines. Just
around the corner are the 256Kbit chips able to exploit
the addressing range of 16-bit processors like the 68000.
Costs per bit are dropping dramatically to make large
memory arrays an affordable proposition.

As the density of RAM memory chips increases,
personal-computer manufacturers are able to offer
higher-resolution graphics and more advanced software.
In some cases the software need not be read in from
floppy discs but can be resident in the machine, stored
in ROM. The density of ROM devices is even higher than
that of RAM. Even now 256Kbit chips are the norm, with
1Mbit not far off. Just think what you could do with 128K
of software available as soon as you hit the On switch.
As well as a fancy operating system like Unix, there
would be room for a word-processing program, a
spreadsheet and no doubt a few games too. If s quite an
improvement over the 4K Basics of just a few years ago.

Also needed to build a complete system are the
specialised peripheral devices. They are often just as
dense and sophisticated as the microprocessors they
serve. One of the most commonly used peripheral chips
is the universal asynchronous receiver transmitter or
Uart, which interfaces with RS-232 serial links for VDUs,

modems and other external facilities. Devices of this
type are available from the various manufacturers.

Graphics-controller chips are widely used to unload
the tedious chore of screen refresh from the processor.
Devices are now available which offer not only high-
resolution bit mapped colour graphics but the ability to
draw lines and shapes without processor intervention.
Add to these the extensive array of parallel Interfaces,
floppy-disc controllers, text processors, floating-point
arithmetic units and memory managers, and you can see
why there are often so many little black rectangles inside
your office computer.

Each of these specialist chips is likely to cost as
much as the CPU itself. At the tower end of the market
lots of peripheral chips like these would soon have the
price rocketing out of control. The designers of high-
volume personal computers therefore turn to custom
logic arrays. They are programmed at the manufacturing
stage to form a peripheral chip tailored specifically for a
particular machine and its needs.

These cost-cutting devices provide only a subset of
the general-purpose facilities offered by the conventional
peripheral chips. But by clever design and compromise
customised arrays can often be made to provide multiple
functions such as dynamic-RAM refresh, graphics
control and printer interface all from one package at a
fraction of the cost of three separate chips. The use of
these custom logic arrays means that there are relatively
few components in mass-market home micros like the
Sinclair Spectrum or Oric.

104

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

width internal bus. The memory addressing
range is still 1Mbyte, but instructions and
data are fetched from memory eight bits at
a time. This slows down the processor of
course, but it also allows it to be used with
external memory and peripheral devices
organised on a byte-wide basis, which in
turn reduces the overall system costs.

The success of this ploy is plain to see.
More 8088 processors have been sold than
8086s, and nearly all the first -general ion
16-bit machines like the IBM PC and the
ACT Sirius have used it. Better still, 8088
software is absolutely identical to 8086
software. System builders have a no-hassie
upgrade path when they need it, which 1 ntel
has extended further to the 80186 and
80286 processors now available. In
contrast, the more powerful Zilog Z-8G0Q
processor family does not include an eight-
bit bus version, which is one of the reasons
why this otherwise attractive device has not
caught on so well.

For the ultimate in 16-bit power, though,
take a look at the Motorola 68000. This
beautiful processor is designed with 32-bit
architecture on the inside but uses a 16 bit
bus to the outside world. If offers an
elegant, regular instruction set and a
16Mbyte address range. The 68000 looks a
natural for the second generation of 16-bit
personal computers and has already been
employed in advanced new machines like
the Apple Lisa and others. An eight-bit bus
version, the 68008, is available and the
68020 with a full 32-bit bus will be along
soon.

On the following eight pages you will
find details of the eight major families of
CPU chip. They range from IntePs
pioneering 8080A to the Motorola 68000
whose intricacies are giving the designers
something to work on for micros that will
be appearing in the second half of the
decade. Q

Zilog's super-fast Z-80H eight-bit chips run
at 0MHz.

Preparing silicon waters at Ferranti for U LA chips, key elements in cheap home micros.

Does it matter?

A few years ago, when personal computers were a brand-new
phenomenon, any prospective buyer was made immediately aware of
which microprocessor had been used to animate his or her new-found
friend. Today the picture is changing, and in some cases one can comb the
glowing text of the advertisements without finding so much as a hint of
what the microprocessor chip is among the ft 128 K” and “ 1 6 -bit""
superlatives. So should it really matter to today's prospective buyer what
iurks within the oh-so-sexy box? The answer, as so often, is yes and no.

Any particular microprocessor chip can be compared with its
contemporaries and a judgment made about its relative power or
performance. Regrettably, the potential of that device may not be fully
realised in the personal computers in which it is used, so it is better to
compare personal computers on the basis of memory, word size, graphics
capabilities, available software, and similar overall system parameters than
to choose on the basis of the CPU chip used. Regular readers of this
magazine have heard often enough about proud owners of new 16 -bit
machines who discover to their horror that programs actually run faster on
their old eight-bit systems. Software is the great leveller, and bad 16 -bit
software is worse than good eight-bit code, no matter how big the price tag
on the system.

But the choice of processor does matter because, by and large, different
processor chips cannot run each other’s software. If you choose a machine
which uses an obscure processor you will find that software is difficult to
come by, and expensive too. Happiness is definitely more assured if you
go for the Ford Escort processor, rather than for that alluring Porsche with
such great potential but so little support.

It also matters if the potential user intends to write any assembly-
language software, since in this case the power and instruction set of the
processor itself will be more important and more easily exploited. Finally,
even if some of today’s available software for 16 -bit machines is mediocre,
it is a fair bet that the situation will improve dramatically. The 16 -bit
machines do have much more untapped potential in terms of memory
expansion and raw processor power, which will ensure that they remain
useful for many years to come.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

105

r 8080A The one that started it all

in 1972, when Intel introduced the first microprocessors, the 4004 and the 8008, the world had little
idea of the revolution it was about to witness. They were puny devices with limited capabilities and
instruction sets, and were fabricated in the difficult PMOS technology. These newcomers gave no
hint of posing any threat to real computers, so most system designers looked briefly at the data
sheets and passed on.

Within Intel itself, however, the possibilities opened up by a complete central processor on a
single chip of silicon were soon recognised. Development of a more powerful successor using the
new NMOS technology was vigorously pursued. The result was the 8080A, launched only 10 years
ago as the leader of a revolution which was soon to affect us all.

The 8080A was a real computer in miniature, with a 64K addressing range, a useful set of 78
instructions, plenty of registers, and binary or BCD arithmetic capability. Initially produced in small
numbers and with a high price tag. the 8080A went on to sales exceeding two million units per year
and made Intel almost a household name.

Right from the start visionaries foresaw its potential for use in small personal computers. The first
real example, the Altair 880B, became so successful that its S-100 back-plane bus went on to
become an industry standard. CP/M too, was designed for the 8080A, and is still the most popular
operating system, offering access to a vast range of software, Intel's chosen successor to the
8080A, the 8085, was a damp squib by comparison, and attention soon switched to the Z-80 device
from the competing Zilog corporation.

N A

106

PR ACTICAL COM PUT! NG February 1 984

r

Z-80 Zilog's challenge

Shortly after the introduction of the 8080A, a group of engineers who had worked for Intel on that
project broke away and formed the competing Zilog corporation. They had ambitious plans for a
more powerful processor, and it was launched in 1977 as the Z-80.

The Z-80 is impressive even by today’s enlightened standards; in 1977 it was a blockbuster. With
two complete sets of 8080A-style general registers, two new index registers, on-chip dynamic-RAM
refresh logic, three interrupt modes, and no less than 158 instructions including block operations, bit
addressing, and BCD shifts, the Zilog Z-80 posed a real and sustained challenge to Intel.

To cash in on the blooming 8080A market, Zilog made its processor upwards compatible at the
object-code level. This endowed the Z-80 with a messy and confusing instruction set, but also
ensured ready industry acceptance and access to the gigantic CP/M software base. To provide room
for all the new instructions, Zilog took advantage of the 12 unused op codes in the 8080A set. Some
were used directly, and others were trap doors to additional op-code tables, each with 256 new op
code possibilities. This technique made it necessary to use two op code bytes to reach the new
tables, and resulted in instructions up to four bytes long, but the wisdom of the Zilog approach to
compatibility has been amply demonstrated by the sales figures.

Also introduced were a family of very powerful peripheral devices which used the sophisticated
Z-80 interrupt structure; they are still considered the best devices of their type available. Used in
many personal computers including all the Sinclair family, the Z-80 will be with us for many years to
come.

Z-80

\

BUS CONFIGURATION

Manufacturers: Zilog. Mustek. NEC, Sharo, SGS
Used on: Sinclair ZX-80, 81 and Spectrum; Lynx;

Tandy; Video Genie; Nascom; etc.
Technology: NMOS
Memory address range: 64K
Clock frequency: 2.5MHz or 4MHz
Power supply: + 5V

CLOCK

GEN.

w

zso

ADDRESS BUS

( 16 )

/ DATA B US

\

>

>

4 ^ CONTROL BUS ^

A 8

F 8

A’ 8

F 1 8

B

C

B 1

c 1

D

E

D 1

E 1

H

L

H 1

L 1

1

R

Alternative register set

Either main set or alternative
set can be used. Bank
switch fs achieved with EX
and EXX instructions.

INDEX REG IX 16

INDEX REG 1Y 16

STACK POINTER SP 16

PROGRAM CNTR, PC 16

Register set

The Z 80 register set Is very generous and has two
banks of 8080 style general registers plus two
16-bit index registers. Also included is an interrupt
page address register 1 and a dynamic-RAM
refresh counter register R.

Software and instruction set

This processor is probably better endowed with available
software than any other, thanks to upward 8080
compatibility and the CP/M operating system — and
Clive Sinclair. The instruction set is much improved over
that of the 8080 and includes extended 16-bit
compatibility, relative jumps, indexed addressing, bit set,
test, and reset, block operations, and BCD shift
operations. There are 158 basic instructions.

Family members

The Z-80 requires an external clock generator but does
not need a bus controller. Zilog has a powerful family of
peripheral chips including a PIG, CTC and dual Uart/SIO ;
each of which includes vectored interrupt logic: 8080
peripherals can also be used.

Alt

Ata

AID

AS

A13

j-

AB

A 14

-

A7

A15

A6

O

-

A5

D4

-

A4

D3

A3

D5

200

A2

D6

A1

+SV

A0

02

.

GND

D7

RFSH

DO

-

Ml

D1

(NT

■

RESET

■t

BUSRG

nmi

WAIT

HALT

BUSAK

MREQ

WR

iORG

-20 21.

RD

PIN CONNECTIONS

(Top view)

Data types
Bit

Nibble, four bits
Byte, eight bits
Word. 16 bits
Block, up to 64K bytes

Addressing modes

Implied

Immediate

Register

Register indirect

Extended. Direct

Relative

Indexed

Bit

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

107

■ 6502 Commodore's Pet chip

Shortly after the introduction of the 8080A, Motorola introduced the MC-6800, a pretty chip with
some nice features like single-supply 5V operation and an easy-to-use instruction set. Due in part to
a lack of on-chip registers, the 6800 was never as popular as the 8080A and was not very good at
running high-level languages like Basic.

Once again, a small competing firm, in this case MOS Technology, decided it could do better, and
the 6502 was born. It was optimised for data-processing applications and had the advantage of two
index registers and a comprehensive set of addressing modes which, rather surprisingly, allowed it
to run certain benchmarks even faster than the Z-80. The chip was simple and cheap, and right from
the start it attracted the attention of budding personal-computer manufacturers.

The very first single-box personal computer, the Commodore Pet, was designed around the 6502. It
was hotly pursued by the Apple, and when MOS Technology ran into trouble Commodore took over
and is now a fully fledged semiconductor manufacturer in its own right. Two aggressive second
sources, Rockwell and Synertek, back up the field. The 6502 is actually only one device in a whole
family of processors with the same basic architecture, including single-chip processors with RAM,
ROM and I/O all in the same package.

108

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

6809 Best of the eight-bitters

When the 6502 stole most of the Motorola 6800 thunder, there was only one thing for Motorola to do
and that was to build a new processor that was better in every respect. So dedicated were the
Motorola designers to building the very best eight-bit device, that the resulting 6809 chip has just
about everything that anyone could want from an eight-bit processor, except one thing: it was not
around when it was really needed.

This elegant paragon of a microprocessor arrived on the scene too late to grab much of a share of

the thriving eight-bit personal-computer market, and most designers had already opted for the Z-80 or
the 6502 for their shiny new machines. The classic lines of the 6809 were enough, however, to ensure
that some manufacturers would adopt it, and it has appeared in the Dragon, the Tandy Color
Computer and a few others you may be lucky enough to own.

Like the 6502, the 6809 does not enjoy the undoubted benefits of CP/M compatibility, and so
software availability is a problem. What software there is runs very fast on the sleek architecture of
this powerful processor. With two accumulators, two index registers, two stack pointers, a host of
addressing modes and a hardware multiplier, the 6809 does well in high-level language applications.
It can be expected to Benchmark ahead of the Z-80 or the 6502 on most data-processing tasks. It will
be interesting to see whether this chip manages to carve out its own niche in the microprocessor
hall of fame before the coming deluge of 16-bit machines swamps the market.

J

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

109

9900 First to 1 6-

The 9900 represented a bold move by Texas Instruments, one of the largest of the semiconductor
manufacturers. In 1976, Texas announced that the 16-bit 9900 represented the “end of the two-bit
eight-bif 1 , but things are never that clear cut or predictable in the fickle microprocessor market.
Despite plenty of early interest from scientific and military designers who needed the high
throughput and 16-bit precision the 9900 offered, this unique device was too costly and too different
to be used in the volume applications so essential for success. With separate 16-bit data and
address buses, the Texas chip needed an expensive 64-pin package, but could only address 32K,
The architecture is based on that of the Texas 990 family of minicomputers and has many novel
features, including the use of blocks of workspace registers in RAM memory rather than the more
usual on-chip register sets of conventional processors. I/O arrangements are unusual too in using a
serial communications register unit which can address up to 4,096 individual bit I/O lines. It is
therefore possible for Texas to produce a family of peripheral devices using smaller packages than
those used by the competition. But programming the 9900 requires a special approach since there
are no stack operations and no JSR instruction.

To the initiated, however, the 9900 chip is powerful and flexible. To show what could be done,
Texas introduced its own personal computer which used it, the TI-99/4. Unfortunately it has not
proved a great success in the market place and is now being discontinued in favour of an
8088-based machine. More up-to-date versions of the 9900 are now available, including the 9995 with
a multiplexed bus, and the 99000 which is intended to compete with the 8086 and 68000,

r

9900 V-

BUS CONFIGURATION

Manufacturers: Texas Instruments, AMI,
Used on: Texas home computer
Technology: NMOS
Memory address range: 32 K
Clock frequency: 3MHz or 4MHz
Power supply: +5V t + 12V, -5V

ITT

9900

address bus

( 15 )

DATA BUS
( 16 )

C

c

CONTROL BUS

CRU I/O BUS

P

0

PROGRAM COUNTER

16

WORKSPACE POINTER

16

STATUS (FLAG) REGISTER 16

PC

WP

ST

Register set

The 9900 has a unique architecture which relies on
multiple banks of workspace registers in RAM and
therefore has few on-chip registers. The only on-
chip registers are the program-counter flag
register and the register which points to the
current workspace. Multiple accumulators and
index registers can be provided in the workspace,
but there is no true stack pointer cn the chip or in
the workspace.

Software and instruction set

The 9900 is compatible with the Texas 990 family of
minicomputers and can solve software with them r but
there is no popular user base and no access to the huge
variety of software offered by CP/M. The Texas home
computer does, however, have a reasonable following
and reasonable software. The instruction set is quite
unique and does not include stack operations or
subroutine jumps, I/O operations are also different from
other CPUs and use the special serial CRU bus.

vcc

WAIT

asm

HOLD A

rIHt

IAQ

Ol

Family members

Several more recent variations of the basic 9900
architecture have been produced, including the 9940
single-chip device and the 9995 with a 40-pin package
and multiplexed data bus. There is a useful family of
dedicated peripheral devices.

cmjourr

CRJUIN

iNTTTEO

1 64

■ D15
- DM

■ 0«

S3 33

Data types
Bit

Byte, eight bits
Word, 16 bits

Addressing modes

Immediate

Workspace register addressing

Workspace register indirect

Workspace register, indirect auto inc.

Symbolic, direct

Indexed

PC relative

CRU relative

110

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

8088 Minicomputer on a desk

Intel waited until large cheap memories were available and the market was ready before launching
its own 16-bit processor, the 8086. Once again its timing was excellent. Designers liked the 1Mbyte
address range and the powerful new instruction set. A memory system organised for a 1 6-bit data
bus can be expensive however — too expensive for the personal-computer market to begin with —
so Intel also produced the companion 8088 which uses an eight-bit data bus.

The 8088 is identical to the 8086 on the inside, and can run the same software; the only difference
is the width of the external data bus. This slows things down, but has the more important effect of
lowering system costs. The 8088 has been a big success in the personal-computer field, being used
in the IBM PC and several other machines where it gives minicomputer performance in a low-cost
desk-top system.

In a repeat of its earlier success with the 8080A, Intel has managed to gain a firm foothold in the
16-bit market with the 8088. Manufacturers are therefore likely to choose another Intel device, such
as the 8086 or the newer 80186 or 80286, when the time comes to add increased performance to their
products. The 8088/8086 family also has the two popular disc-operating systems CP/M-86 and MS-
DOS to its credit.

Despite its success, the 8088 is not a very elegant chip. It has an untidy architecture and
instruction set, and needs three separate chips for the CPU group alone. It is only the economics of
its early popularity which keeps It ahead.

8088 V

BUS CONFIGURATION

Manufacturers: Intel, AMD, NEC, Siemens, Fujitsu
Used on: IBM PC T Sirius, DEC Rainbow, Texas
Professional

Technology: HMOS

Memory address range: 1Mbyte

Clock frequency: 5MHz, 8MHz and 10MHz

Power supply: + 5V

MULTIPLEXED
ADDRESS/DATA BUS ]
( 8 )

HI. ORDER ADDRESSN

( 12 ) y

CONTROL BUS
A 1 V

(MINIMUM MODE)

POINTER a INDEX REGS

SP
BP
SI
Dl

GENERAL REGS

' STACK POINTER 16

BASE POINTER

16

SOURCE INDEX

16

DEST. INDEX

16

AH

AL

BH

8L

CH

CL

DH

DL

AX

BX

CX

DX

SEGMENT REGS

PROGRAM COUNTER/FLAGS

CODE SECT.

16

DATASEG.

16

STACK SEG

16

EXTRA SEG.

16

Register set

CS

D$

SS

ES

INSTRUCTION POINTER

FLAGS

16

IP

The 8088 registers and architecture are identical
to that of the 8086 and contain as a subset a
group of 8080 types. A 20-brt address is generated
by combining a pointer and a segment register,
four segments being simultaneously available.
There are eight eight-bit general registers which
can be used as four 16-bit pairs.

Software and instruction set

Its selection for the popular IBM PC and Sirius machines
has meant there is more software available for the
8088/86 than for any other 16-bit CPU. Operating systems
include CP/M-8G, MS-DOS and Unix. There are no
software differences between the 8088 and 8086, and
both are upwards compatible with the 8080 at the object-
code level. The instruction set is aimed at minicomputer-
style applications in high-level languages and contains
multiply/divide, bit operations and 2-80 style block
operations.

Family members

in Min mode 8088 just needs an 8264 clock generator,
but in Max mode an 8288 bus controller is also required.
The 8088 is an eight-bit bus version of the 8086 16-bil
processor. Few-chip versions 80188 and 80186 are now
available as is the 80286 virtual-memory version.

GND

-

1

vcc

A 14

-

A15

A13

A1&/53

A12

A 17/54

All

A18/S5

AID

A19/S6

A9

SSO

A£

QOEte ■

Mwm

AD7

RD

AG6

HOLD

AD5

■

HLDA

AD4

WR

AD3

JO/M

AD2

DT/R

ADI

□EM

ADO

ALE

NMI

INTA

INTR

-

TEST

CLK

-

READY

GND

20 21 H

RESET

MIN. MODE PIN CONNECTIONS

(Top view)

Data types

Bit

Byte, eight bits
Word, 16 bits
Double word, 32 bits
Bytestring. N bytes
Wordstring, N words

Addressing modes

Implied

Immediate

Register

Register indirect

Direct

Based

Indexed

Based Indexed

String

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

111

f 68000 Beauty . . .

Motorola has always produced elegant processors, Its 6800, despite coming second to the 8080A,
was much easier to understand and to program, and the 6809 is the best of all the eight-bit chips.

With the 68000, though, Motorola has surpassed itself with a processor that is not only prettier to
look at than the competition but is also a lot more powerful into the bargain,

While others use fancy extras and clever tricks to squeeze extra performance out of their chips,
the secret of the 68000 lies in the sheer scale of its internal 32-bit architecture. With 17 32-bit
registers, a 16-bit data bus and a 24-bit address bus, the 68000 does not need tricks to get
performance. The programmer is faced with a simple set of only 56 basic instructions which can be
expanded by data-type and address-mode options to provide over 1,000 combinations.

The 68000 is powerful enough to take advantage of the much favoured Unix operating system from
Bell Labs, which is fast becoming a standard for 68000 users. Unix offers the same advantages that
were ultimately achieved by CP/M on the 8080 and its derivatives — a common software base.

While the 8086 needs lots of awkward add-ons to squeeze more performance from it, as in the new
80286, the 68000 is really a more powerful machine struggling to escape, and so upgrades are simple.
Next to appear will be the 68010, still with a 16-bit data bus but offering virtual-memory support.

After that we are promised the 68020, which reveals for the first time the full glory of that 32-bit
architecture.

>

68000 \

BUS CONFIGURATION

Manufacturers: Motorola, Mostek, Rockwell,
Signetics, Thompson CSF
Used on: Apple Lisa, Torch 700, HP 9826
Technology: HMOS
Memory address range: 16Mbyte
Clock frequency: 4MHz, 6MHz T 8MHz, 10MHz,
12.5MHz

Power supply: + 5V

ADDRESS BUS
(23)

DATA BUS
(16)

CONTROL BUS

At the moment there Is a shortage of 68000 peripheral
devices and no maths processor but 6800/6502
peripherals can be used. Other processors available or
planned are the 68008 eight-bit data bus, the 68010 with
virtual-memory support and the 68020 with full 32-bit
data bus.

Software and Instruction set

The 68000 is a very powerful processor and will probably
become very popular as new systems are introduced. The
most popular operating system at the moment is Unix
in several versions. Available software is fairly limited at
the moment but the situation will quickly change as
support grows. The instruction set is powerful, simple
and elegant, being based on just 56 basic mnemonics.
Surprisingly, the 68000 can perform floating-point
arithmetic almost as fast as the 8086 with 8087 co-
processor.

vcc

cm

GHP

HALT

WL7

EFu

64

: 3 7 . 33

Data types

Bit

Nibble, four bits
Byte, eight bits
Word, 16 bits
Long word, 32 bits

Addressing modes

Implied

immediate

Register

Register indirect
Absolute, direct
Relative

— plus many more sub-modes,
including indexing

112

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

r

The Z-8000 appeared after the 8086 and before the 68000 and has unfortunately turned out to be
neither first nor best. A processor very much from the Zilog mould, the architecture is designed for
raw processing power with no concessions to the seekers of elegance or simplicity. The Zilog motto
seems to be: if it’s any use, stick it in. As a result, this admittedly powerful device is the most
complex 16-bit processor around, having 110 basic instruction mnemonics and an extensive but
tangled register set. But despite the complexity, it actually uses fewer transistors on the chip than
the 8086 because it uses logic for instruction decoding rather than the simpler but more wasteful
microcode of its competitors.

One of the Z-8000’s features, inherited and expanded from the similar Z-80 facility, is an extensive
set of 20 block or string macro instructions able to move, compare and translate whole blocks of
memory in one go. One of its biggest disadvantages, on the other hand, is the fact that no eight-bit
bus version has been produced, effectively keeping the door firmly closed to use in pioneering 16-bit
personal computers. Up to now, the Z-8000 has been most successful in military applications, but
Commodore has recently announced its intention of using it in a new machine, so perhaps it is not
too late. The label Z-8000 is a family name for the Z-8001, with 8Mbyte addressing, and the Z-8002
which addresses 64K. There is no Z-8000 chip as such.

Zilog itself seems to be having second thoughts, because it has launched an entirely separate
16-bit processor, the Z-800. It has the great advantage of being upwards compatible with the Z-80,
which the Z-8000 is not.

Z-8000 V

Manufacturers: Zilog, AMD, SGS, Sharp, Toshiba
Used on: Zilog System 8000, newly announced
Commodore system

Technology: NMOS
Memory address range: 8Mbyte
Clock frequency: 4MHz, 6MHz, 10MHz
Power supply: + 5V

BUS CONFIGURATION

CLOCK

GEN.

Z8001

SEGMENT ADDRESS'

(7) /

MULTIPLEXED
DATA/ADDRESS BUS)
( 16 )

X

/

\r

CONTROL BUS

GENERAL REGISTERS

SPECIAL REGISTERS

7 RH0 0

7 RL0 0

R0

1 R80

RESERVED WORD

RH1

RL1

R1

RQ0

FLAGS

RH2

RL2

R2

R82

PC SEGMENT

RH3

RL3

R3

PROG. COUNTER

RH4

RL4

R4

R84

SP SEGMENT

RH5

RL5

R5

1

RQ4

STATUS POINTER

RH6

RL6

R6

R86

REFRESH COUNTER

RH7

RL7

R7

Register set

15

0

R8

1 R88

R9

RQ8

1 lie? Z.-OVJUU Ildb

plenty of general
and special-
purpose registers,
but the

programmer has a
lot to remember.

R10|R810

Rill

R12|R812

R13

NORMAL STACK SEG

R14

Register

SYS. STACK SEG.

R14

combinations or
eight, 16, 32 and

64 bits are

R814

NORMAL SP

R15

available.

SYSTEM SP

R15

Software and instruction set

The Z-8000 has not caught on in the personal-computer
market despite its power and availability so software
support is limited. A version of CP/M called CP/M-8000 is
available: as yet there is little software to run under it
but this may change when Commodore introduces its
promised machine using the Zilog chip. The instruction
set has 110 basic mnemonics and many advanced
features, including comprehensive string and block
functions. Unfortunately, it is also rather messy.

Family members

The Z-8000 family includes: the Z-8001, 48-pin, 8Mbyte;
Z-8002, 40-pin, 64K; and the Z-8003 and Z-8004 with
virtual-memory support. There is an extensive family of
peripheral chips including a maths unit, memory
manager, and a universal peripheral controller.

ADO

-1 W48

A08

AD9

SN6

AD10

SN5

AD11

AD7

AD12

AD6

AD13

AD4

STOP

SN4

m

AD5

ADIS

AD3

AD14

- Z8001 -

AD2

±?v

ADI

Y!_

SN2

NVI

GND

SECT

CLOCK

NMI

ST

RESET

RESERVED

MO

B/W

MREO

HfS

DS

R/W

ST3

HU SACK

ST2

V^AIT

ST1

busro

ST0

SNO

SN3

124 25l

SN1

Data types

Addressing modes

Bit

Implied

Nibble

Immediate

Byte

Register

Word

Indirect register

Double word

Direct

Byte strings

Relative

Word strings

Index

Base

Base index

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

113

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pm

ON

JECT

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• Circle No. 154

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MAYFAIR MICROS

★ ★ PRINTERS * ★

PRICE

FIX SOT

EPSON

EX VAT

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RX80F/T

£256.00

FX 80

£335.00

MX 100F/T III

£375.00

FX 100F/T

£430.00

GP100A

SEIKOSHA

£175.00

GP250X

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GP700A Colour

£349.00

OKI MICROLINE

OKI 80A

£190.00

OKI 82A

£289.00

OKI 83A

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OKI 84A (P)

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OKI 92P

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OKI 93P

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MT80

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MT160

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MT180

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STARWRITER FI 040

TEC

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STAR WRITER FI 055

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SHEET FEEDER

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RP1300S

RICOH

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RP1600S

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RP1600S SHEET FEEDER

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RP1600S TRACTOR

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FLOWRITER

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ANADEX DP6500 SOOcps

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DRE 8925 240cps

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JUKI 6100

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OLYMPIA ESW102

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114

• Circle No. 156

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. May 4-7, 1984.

After one show the Midland Computer Fair
has already established itself as an outright winner.
Not only is it the leading exhibition in the Midlands
for microcomputers and related products, but it
stands in its own right as a major national event.

In recognition of this, and the need to
accommodate thousands of expected visitors the
venue for the 1984 Midland Computer Fair is to be
Britain's premier showcase - the National
Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. The NEC with its
superb facilities for exhibitors and visitors alike will

be the fitting site for this major event which
attracted over 17,000 people for the first show.
Whether you are interested in microcomputer
enthusiasts or would prefer to take space in the
Business Section to meet small business micro -
users, the Midland Computer Fair is definitely for you.

So why not let a little of the Midland Computer
Fair’s success rub off on your company by
reserving a stand at the next show.

The road to success starts by filling in the
coupon below:

Return to the: Exhibition Manager, Reed Exhibitions,
Surrey House, 1 Throwley Way, Sutton, Surrey SM 1 4QQ
Tel: 01 643 8040 Telex: 946564 BISPRS.G

Name

Position

Company

Address

EPROM-ERASERj

MACH 3

erases ■ 1
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gtmutfanrtusl^

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BUFFER

Why wail for your printer?,..

WHh ;r>e MACH 3 y&u can- tist youf -computer, while I he
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Far all ou# products: Dealer inquiries invited.

Universal \ f t /

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lor 2716, 2732. 2516 and 253?:

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This programmer can be very easily connecter! to almas!
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OSS xP. PET, CBM. TRSeO, EX<DY l 5WTPC. EXOfiClSER,
NASCQM. MAXBOARD.AMtCOS. ACORN ATOM,
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Convince y&ursel F. lhat ihis programmer arsocan
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i All prices exclude VAT.

ELECTRONICS

' We have good documentation of all our
products, free ot charge.

• All equipment car be tried oul without
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t49 KINGSTREET ♦ GT YARMOUTH NR30 2PA * TEL:<0493) - 2023
(NASH HOUSE)

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RoboLJ^k.

a Wfr Now runs on j(Kw^|L
JP your BBC as well §

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micros.

■ The price includes EX Sjjy
roboFORTH™ Min

Operating System
and detailed
documentation!

Superbly constructed in black satin anodised aluminium, the
CYBER 3 robot is ideal for the educational and light industrial user,
tt emulates, in behaviour and capabilities, larger industrial robots -
the arm can access 350 degrees, with a reach of 50 cm and lift up
to 400 gm. It also uses RoboFORTH™, the acknowledged language
for robotics applications.

For further information on the CYBER 3 robot and all other products,
including speech synthesis units please contact:

CYBER ROBOTICS LTD.

61 Ditton Walk, Cambridge
Tel: Cambridge (0223) 210675

S©1

• Circle No. 157

• Circle No. 158

CAMDEN

THE COMPUTER PEOPLE

COMPUTER SYSTEMS LIMITED

402 COVENTRY ROAD, SMALL HEATH
BIRMINGHAM BIO 0UG

Telephone: 021-771 31)30 (10 linos) Telex: 335909 (Camden O)-

APPLE BE

RRP

845

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80

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1450

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70
150
270
220
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MONITOR

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10 MEG VERSION

£2275

ALL PRICES EXCLUDING VAT

12 MONTHS PARTS AND LABOUR ON ALL APPLE AND TRIDENT PRODUCTS

116

• Circle No. 159

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

SSeZBOCPM 80 system 385.00

Sirius Software
Languages

CBasic 86 1 79.00

Level 2 Cobol wilh forms 2 595.00

Microsoft Basic compiler 269,00

Microsoft Pascal compiler 335,00

Microsoft Fortran compiler 335.00

Word Processing

WordStar

SpellStar ......

MarlMerge ...
Word Mailer

... 269.00
. . 1 20.00
... 1 20.00
... 80.00

PRICES EXCLUSIVE QF VAT AMD CURRENT Al TIME Of
PRINTING

CHEQUES WITH ORDERS

Please allow TOdays for clearance.
PLC's, public sector etc 30 days
credit available on official orders,
subject to 5%
credit charge.

ATA — LONDON 4 Albion Hse,

1 Back Hill, London EC1. 01
Telex 25102 CHACOMG
ATA - POTTERS BAR 197,
Street, Potters Bar, Herts EN6
(0707) 57113

ATA - SHEFFIELD 72 Eldon Street,
Sheffield, Si 4GT. (0742) 700802

FRFEFOST SHEFFIELD SI 1 AY

iti

with recognised professional support

The market
leaders!...

Databases

dBase ll

Autocode

DataSiar

. 365.00
180.00
. 135.00

Kaypro II

KAYPRO II 2 x 200K disc drives 1395.00

IBM Peripherals

Attention Dealers!

As a result of demand ATA
UK has been established to
supply dealers, computer
products at attractive prices
Ring now (dealers only)
(0727) 37327
(0742) 700802

Export specialists — ring or telex for details

Spreadsheet

Multiplan 1 80-00

CalcStar 80.00

System Utilities £

Diagnostic package , 69 00

CP'M configuration package 119.00

MS 009 nrnniAmmni ^ tnnlkit 169 flD

Sirius 1 hardware reference manual 45.00

IEEE 488 package . 169.00

Graphics toolkit 169.00

Asynchronous communications 169.00

remote hatch 285-00

3270 emulator 340-00

64K installed 190,00

Smorgasboard 64 X 1 serial & parallel etc. . 1280.00

BabyTalk Local 3270 emulation.. 625,00

IRMA 3270 emulation — Local 926-00

Baby Blue ZBO + 64K 399.00

Big Blue 280. 450,00

Hyperion

Hyperion 255 * 2 MSDQC, Basic . .... ... 2950,00

Printers & Plotters
Epson

Epson RX80 1 20 CPS 245.00

Epson FX80 16QCP3 349.00

Epson RX80FT 265 00

Epson FX 100 1 60cps 480.00

Apricot £

Apricot Computer 256K RAM i- 3l5Ks/s3J J ’ disk

1399.00

Apricot Computer 256K RAM t 3/5 s/s 3 j J ' disk +

monitor 1595,00

Apricot Computer 25 6K RAM + 315Ks/s3j"
disks + monitor (inp. basic, utilities, comms,

Super Calc), ,,,... 1795-00

Sirius Hardware £

Sinus 1 T28K 1 . 2mb disk drives . 1795.00

Sirius 1 256K 2 4Mb disk drives 2395.00

Sirius 1 256K 1.2 mb disk drive

& 10Mb 3295.00

internal Winchester

128K RAM Boards 264.00

256K RAM Boards 399.00

384 RAM Boards . 499.00

6 1 2K RAM Boards 5 75.00

Z80CP/M 80 System

I.C.E. Winchester Sub Systems

5 Megabyte 1395.00

10 Megabyte 1 599.00

20 Megabyte 2099.00

40 Megabyte 3399.00

Colour Monitors

Luxor high resolution

25Mh; linear & TTL 499.00

Kaga Denshi medium resolution TTL 325.00

Kaga Denshi low resolution 265,00

We also stock the Hantare* RGB monitors, as
recommended by A p pie in Europe.

Apple

APPLE Dot Matrix 1 20 CPS ........ . . 349.00

APPLE Letter Quality Printer 11 99.00

Ricoh

Ricoh 1 300 Flo writer 1 1 55.00

Ricoh RP1 600 Flowriter 1493.00

Mannesmann Tally MTlGOL 449.00

Mannesman Tally MT180L 649.00

Plus full Range of Centronics Printers Available

Plotters

Hewlett Packard HP747Q 750-00

Hewlett Packard HP747 5(A3) TBA 1 399.00

Calcomp 8 PEN (A3} 2999.00

WE ALSO STOCK APPLE AND HEWLETT PACKARD

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Fnr delivery please add
£0 £199 ■ £5, £200 £1499 * £13,
£1500 ■ I'/.V

• Circle No. 160

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 7 984

117

How to score
with the 64

Games on the Commodore 64 are noisy and colourful, but its capabilities
are only just beginning to be exploited, as Paul Bond discovered.

Outstanding graphics are a feature of Commodore’s forthcoming Soccer.

Mirrorsoft’s Caesar aims to keep the larder mouse-free.

with its elephantine 64K of memory,
nearly 38K of which is available for Basic
programs, and a choice of 16 colours,
together with the impressive sound
capability of the Sid chip, the
Commodore 64 is ideai for home use. On
the minus side, its Basic is slow. The
machine's potential may be further
extended by the adition of the new
Simons Basic, but this may be a pricey
privilege.

Radar Rat — Pacman with windows.

Garden aggro in Hovver Bovver.

118

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Games

Blue Moon

Like the song Blue Moon , the Merlin
Software game of the same name is an
old standard: you shoot at things coming
down the screen. Nevertheless, the game
has some originality in its interpretation.

You take the part of the pilot of an
intergalactic spacecraft, and have to
rescue another spacecraft then return to
the safety of the Blue Moon, But before
you can get any ground elapsed time
under your belt you have to dock with the
other half of your ship. There is nothing
so infuriating as having to carry out this
kind of delicate operation before you can
get down to laying waste vast regions of
the cosmos. But it is intensely satisfying,
seconds later and docking achieved, when
you are catapulted straight into a comet
storm. You have to dodge them if you
want to have any future in the Space
Corps, and it won't do your score any
harm if you put a few ergs into these
irritating ice blocks.

Presently the blue bouncers appear and
bounce around the screen firing plasma
bombs. They can mutate into pods and
fall to the bottom of the screen.
Occasionally the Tecom Man drifts across
the screen dropping droids and large
yellow eggs containing bell birds. They
are pretty handy with the old plasma
bombs too.

You have to zap the whole sorry crew
before you delta- vee down to the lunar
surface, where you have a choice of
difficult and easy landing sites.

Blue Moon is a good example of how
traditional games are implemented on the
64 — not original in concept but visually
appealing and addictive if you like shoot-
em-up games. It is certainly fast.

Matrix

Still in space, and travelling faster than *
before, we approach the fine-mesh tracery
of the Power Grid surrounding planet
Earth, Llamas of t’s Matrix, implemented
by Jeff Minter for the Commodore 64, is
the true son of Gridrunner. Minter ’s
original game is claimed to be number 7
in the American popularity stakes. The
follow-up is set 10 years after the
infamous Grid Wars when space pilots
with nerves of steel battled to free the
Power Grid of alien infestation.

In Gridrunner the evil droids traversed
the grid horizontally; now they come in
diagonal waves too. In the original game
the X,Y zappers running along two sides
of the grid formed pods at the nodes of
their crossfire. If you were not caught in
the crossfire, the pods would probably
obliterate you by hurling a bolt of energy
down the grid. IPs the same in Matrix,
but there is a treacherous humanoid, the
Snitch, who runs along the top of the grid
pointing you out to the enemy. Camels
appear and run down the grid, reducing

your score, and force fields hurl your fire
back at you. On the plus side, ship control
— achieved by joystick — no longer
limits you to the lower regions of the grid;
you can move anywhere other than the
top four lines.

There are 20 skill levels. The first six
are selectable before play and after that
you must fight. Action is incredibly fast
and furious throughout, and the
interminable sounds of cosmic weaponry
are well reproduced by the Sid chip. This
is essential, if only to drown out the
demented screams which people playing
this game inevitably emit.

Hower Bower

Back to the green hills of Earth. Since
most surviving grid pilots are good for
little other than mowing the lawn, it is
fitting that we should move on to another
Minter extravaganza, Llamasoft's Hower
Bovver.

It is summer-time in England. Gordon
Bennet presumes too much and borrows
his neighbour Jim’s Air-Mo. But Jim
decides he wants his mower back.

The scene is set for a horticultural
holocuast in which, using the joystick to
manoeuvre Gordon and his mower, you
run away from Jim at the same time as
your dog Rover fights a rearguard action,
snapping at Jim’s heels. However, Rover
is frightened of the Air-Mo, so monitor
Dog Tolerance and Dog Loyalty readouts
carefully, if you slice through a flower
bed, an angry gardener will join in the
chase. The game has 16 different lawns,
including one shaped like a llama. As
with Matrix, the graphics are good but
the sound-track is particularly telling.
Mowing, screaming, snapping and
barking are well reproduced and a non-
stop rendition of In an English Country
Garden churns on and on,

Caesar the Cat

From Rover the dog to Caesar the Cat,
Mirrorsoft’s cute game for the
Commodore 64. Mirrorsoft is part of
Mirror Group Newspapers and you can
buy the software via MGN publications
or from newsagents, plus the usual
commercial outlets. If Caesar is anything
to go by, MGN has avoided the mistakes
made by some other big companies
seeking to break into the home-computing
software market.

Caesar is a cheeky young cat on duty in
a well stocked larder. There is a joystick/
keyboard control option, which you use
to guide the furry feline along crowded
shelves to pounce on the mice and take
them away from the larder through a
door which appears at random.

With its Disneyesque graphics and

{continued on page 121}

Hungry Horace — for the traditionalist.

Supersoft’s innovative Sltx.

You are Bilbo Baggins in Melbourne
House’s flexible adaptation of J R R
Tolkien’s tale The Hobbit.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

119

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Games

(continued from page 119)
catchy backing music, the game should
appeal to youngsters, but it is also
challenging for high -scoring arcade
adepts. The concept of keeping the larder
free of mice, especially when portrayed so
well, seems healthier than murdering
encroaching hordes of presumably
sentient alien beings. The game is a really
excellent use of the Commodore’s graphic
facilities.

Radar Rat Race

Now from cats to rats. This cartridge-
based program seemed the most
promising of the bunch. Cartridges cost
more than cassettes, and a lot of the
games tested did not seem to merit the
extra expenditure for the sake of quick
loading.

Radar Rat Race, from Commodore, is
like a speedy Patman with windows. As a
rat, you race through a continually
scrolling maze, pursued by red rats and
trying not to bump into cats sitting about
in the passageways. If a rat is hot on your
trail you can create a false scent by
pressing the S key. On the right-hand side
of the screen is a small plan of the entire
maze, from which you glean where the
cheese is hidden. There are 10 cheeses
placed throughout the maze. The first is
worth 100 points, the second 200 and so

OIL

There is a joystick/ keyboard option
and scoring more than 20,000 gives you
an extra life. Radar Rat Race was not one
of my all-time personal favourites, but it
will appeal to maze addicts.

Hungry Horace

Remaining with mazes, we find the
voracious Horace — Melbourne House’s
variation on an Atari theme — still in the
park eating flowers and stealing the
guards’ lunch. The game also scrolls: the
park is divided into four sections, each
with an exit. Horace exits when he likes,
and doesn’t have to clear the screen. Each
area of the park is tougher than the last.
On leaving the last section, you re-enter
the first with the action becoming faster
and the guards meaner.

This implementation is fine if you are a
traditionalist, but hopes remain high that
games like this will have more life injected
into them in future. Most software houses
have so far failed to utilise the extra
memory of the 64 to its full extent.

Stix

Atari -I ike insofar as it bears a passing
resemblance to a game called Qix, Stix

from Supersoft has a scenario in which a
bundle of energy roams the universe,
destroying all in its path. It becomes
trapped in a cosmic storm, giving you the
chance to harness its evil power for the
good of mankind. To control the energy
you must restrict its movement by
constructing force fields.

This you do by moving four field
synthesisers around the screen using your
joystick plugged into control port 1. A
field can be completed by joining to the
boundary of the screen or to another
completed force field, if you keep the
Tire button depressed, it takes longer to
finish a border, but you do score more.
When more than 75 percent of the
hyperspace has been surrounded by force
fields von move into a new dimension and
each percent scored above 75 percent
scores more points.

A game of strategy, Stix is one of the
more original computer games around
and its implementation for the 64 has not
done it any harm. Mondrian would have
loved it.

The Hobbit

Originally implemented by Melbourne
House for the Spectrum, this is a
computerised Adventure game. U is based
on Professor Tolkien’s famous yarn
about a hairy- footed little creature in
conflict with a nasty dragon. Your role is
that of the feisty Bilbo Baggins — to
discover the evil dragon Smaug and
recover the treasure. The delinquent ores
and poor Smeagol cause as much trouble
as possible. Help is sometimes available
from Gandalf Greyhame, but don’t rely
on it.

Each different scene in the ad venture is
colon rfully depicted on the screen.
Commands can be entered with a great
deal of flexibility since the program has a
large vocabulary. It recognises over 500
words, and can perform over 50 different
actions made up by over 30 verbs,
combined with about a dozen
prepositions.

Flexibility combined with excellent
graphics account for the success of the
Spectrum Hobbit. It should be as popular
in the Commodore 64 version.

Grand Master

Supposedly the world’s strongest chess
program yet for home computers, Grand
Master was developed by Kingsoft and is
distributed by Audiogenic. To begin with
you see a chess board with your white
pieces, nearer the bottom of the screen.
Moves are entered by locating the square
from which you wish to move, followed
by the square you want to move to, then
pressing Return.

The Grand Master displays its thoughts
in the form of plys. A ply is one move for
one side. If you look to the letter P, you
can see how many plys deep the analysis
is. So P3 means that the program has
analysed one move from itscl f , one from
you, and its own again.

If you key in an illegal move, the
computer will not accept it, so the
program is a useful chess tutor too. You
can have response times from five seconds
up to several days, the latter for postal
chess. Since the original version of this
game will run happily on a Vic-20,
perhaps we can look forward to an even
stronger program in the future.

Soccer

Leaving the ratified intellectual
atmosphere of the chess competition 1
donned my Pierre Cardin football-terrace-
chic pullover and had a quick kick around
with the Commodore three-dimensional
Toot ball game.

The game stands alone as an example
of what can be done with the 64. Brilliant
graphics show the players from a BBC
camera angle. You can select the colours
you wish to play in. Two people can play
using a pair of joysticks. At any time the
man nearest the ball is under joystick
control. There is an option enabling you
to play against the computer but, as
usual, it cheats.

There are some nice touches, such as
the way the players troop off at half-time.
The ball even casts a shadow, and makes
a realistic boinking noise as it bounces
around. But as any footballer will tell
you, it’s the roar of the crowd that makes
it all worthwhile. D

Game

Publisher

Price

Rating

Blue Moon

Merlin Software

£6.50

14/20

Matrix

Llamasoft

£7.50

15/20

Hower Bower

Llamasoft

£7.50

16/20

Caesar the Cat

Mirrorsoft

£8.95

17/20

Radar Rat Race*

Commodore

£9.99

12/20

Grand Master

King soft /A ud i og e n i cs

£17.95

16/20

Soccer

Commodore

TBA

18/20

Hobbit

Melbourne House

£14.95

16/20

Hungry Horace

Melbourne House

£5.95

13/20

Stix

Supersoft

£7.78

14/20

* Radar Rat Race is supplied on cartridge

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Why all other spread

In the early days of micros, the first
spreadsheets appeared, using complicated cell
co-ordinate references to define plans.

This made the most of limited com-
puting power but plans were tricky to write,
and difficult to read later.

Today’s micros are much more sophisti-
cated but all the spreadsheets are more or less
the same as they always were. All that is,
except PlannerCalc and MasterPlanner.
Described in a recent university report as
“ . . the best spreadsheet package currently on
the Market’’ PlannerCalc and MasterPlanner
are true business aids.

p^jygygg^GAL

Business Planning on a Mi

immediately see their effect on every-
thing else in the model.

It comes with
the best manual
on the market and
it’s suitable for
most micros with
a™ CP/M 2.2
operating system,

64K of memory,
giving at least 900
cells, minimum
screen width of 80
characters and 2

floppy disc drives.

Dyed in the wool calc freaks won’t like
them but businessmen will.

NEW USERS START HERE

PlannerCalc at .£85.00* is now accepted
as the first choice for people new to financial
planning.

Designed for 8-bit micros, it boasts the
kind of features that you’d expect to pay twice
as much for. (Buy PlannerCalc’s nearest rival
and you’ll have to.)

Unlike all other‘calc’products
it allows you to enter calculations
in a language you understand.

Plain English.

For example:

LINE I SALES-100. 150. 175.210
LINE 2 EXPENSES GROW 70 BY 1 5% FOR 4
LINE 3 NET=SALES- EXPENSES
LINE 4 CSALES-- CUM SALES
COLUMN 5 YEAR=SUM OF COL I THRU COL 4

So it’s much easier to use.

It uses the popular “spread-
sheet” approach with a window
that can be rolled in all directions.

Which means you can enter
new figures and rules and

MUCH MORE POWER,

NOT MUCH MORE MONEY

MasterPlanner is the most powerful
spreadsheet system currently available with
its increased matrix size, 2000-3000 cells on
most 64K micros. (But at £ 245 * it certainly
isn’t the most expensive.)

Consolidation of models, allows you to
create separate plans for each department and
then combine them into an overall company

122

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

sheets are out of date.

plan. Data transfer to word
processing and other systems
lets you incorporate figures in
reports and output to a data
base. It also has extensive
forniatting facilities which
means you can produce reports
that wouldn’t look out of place in
the board room.

It can store up to 25 stan-
dard reports to run when you need them. It’s
got full WHAT IF? analysis and direct
editing of both spreadsheet and logic display.

JUST AS EASY TO USE

All this increased power doesn’t mean
you’ll need a degree in advanced computing
to understand MasterPlanner.

It works on exactly the same
system as PlannerCalc and models
written on PlannerCalc run without
modification on MasterPlanner.

OVER 10 YEARS EXPERIENCE

When you invest in MasterPlanner or
PlannerCalc you’re not just getting the best
software money can buy.

16 BIT VERSION

A new version of Master-
Planner has been specifically designed!
for the 16 bit micros like the Sirius 1
under ™CP/M-86 or the IBM personal using
either CP/M-86 or ™MS DOS 1.1 . With a vast
matrix size of over 7000 cells on 128K and
even more with larger memory, you’ll at last
be able to make the most of your micro.

ULTIMATE POWER

Fastplan is the top Comshare micro
planning system.

It’s file -based, allowing development of
large scale models; with a staggering 18,000
cell matrix; full financial functions plus back-
wards iteration, file input and output; and
much more. Yet, because it can be menu
driven it is easy to use. For the full story, tick
the Fastplan box when you return the coupon.

You’re also getting the kind of back up
and after-sales service that only a company
of Comshare’s track- record can guarantee.

If you’d like to know more about any
product, call in at your local dealer or fill in the
coupon and send it to us.

* Plus VAT and post & package.

Making the computer make sense.

*CP/M and™CP/M-86 are the registered trade marks of Digital Research Inc.
Comshare Ltd., 82 -34 Great Peter Street, London SW I P 2 DB, Telephone: 01-222 5665.

To: LM’iwrlmKiit tit PC, C'orn*hnrv Ltd., 112^4 til. Peter Street. Ixmdoi] ."iWIP’iDB "I
j Please send me:

Qtv

Product

Micro

Op System

Disc Size

K

Amount

1 P-

PlannerCalc

(8 bit only)

CP/M 2.2

875 'A'

MasterPlanner
& £-2X235

CP/M 2.2

875 VS

MasterPlanner

IBM PC

MS DOS 1 J

875 V/

MasterPlanner

CP/M-86

875 W

All prices include VAT and postage & packing TOTAL

Please send me information about Fastplan

| I enclose a cheq ue/pos tal order for £ _

| PI ease de bi I my Acc ess Card N o.

j Jiarclaycaid No

| Signature.

I Name

; Address

.made payable to Comshare Ltd.

for

for £

_Tel. No..

| Please allow 28 days for delivery. VAT No. 2384 186411. Registered No, 080406, j

CmiihireHum Lhif it^hi nui Khiuipt uyo(dtn.An|f ucepluict will bou bj«l ioConihuBlilHiiiiiiHl conditmu

• Circle No. 142

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

123

LONDON COMPUTER CENTRE

8/16 bit SOFTWARE

The comprehensive range includes

WORDSTAR £235

D BASE II £349

SUPERCALC ll tU £190

SPELLING CHECKER E8G

WORD PROCESSING

£

LANGUAGES

£

Spellbinder

290

MBasrc

215

Peach Pack'

332

MBasic Compiler

235

Spellstar

134

0 Compiler

330

Maillist

50

Fortran 80 '86

325

Grammattk

85

Cis CoboPF orms2

399.105

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Pascal MT •

240

Plannercalc

85

Pascal MT - 'SSP

350

Supercalc l

130

ACCOUNTING

Multi plan

170

Pegasus Irom

250

Lotus 1-2-3

357

Peachtree Irom

325

D BASE CORNER

Tabs Irom

199

FastBase

150

Exact

500

Autocode

195

Pulsar from

195

Quickcode

205

COMMUNICATIONS

Dgraph

190

Bstam

130

Friday

185

Crosstalk

135

Infostar

266

Moved 80 86

90/105

UTILITIES

Sir! £60. ZSid £76.
Mac £133

Inci. Peach S pel I/M aillisl

Please telephone for the

LCC Software Catalogue

FORMATS: Superbrain, Televideo, Sirius, Sanyo. Osborne
Morthstar, 8 JJ SD, DEC, Epson QX-10, IBM
ICL H R XEROX, ALTOS , Apricot, NEC-APC & many more
All prices are exclusive of VAT

New! The fast and easy way to
generate your own dBase 11
Applications programs - use
fastBase. £150.

* only fastBase allows 7 index files per data
base, all others allow 1 index file

* only fastBase allows report generation on
3 files others 1 file

* fastBase Structures Command files with
indentations allowing maximum speed in
execution

* fastBase uses a series of on-screen
prompts and Help Menus to lead you
through the process of generating your
own dBase 11 Command files.
Demonstrations on all software daily -call
in or order by mail.

43 Grafton Way, London W1P 5LA (Opposite Maples)
Opening Hours: 10-7 Mon-Fri. 12-4 Sat.

01-387 4455 (4 lines) Telephone Answering Service After Office Hours

Telex: 8953742

• Circle No. 165

! ELBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG — FXBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG — ELBUG

ORBIT

F a°c R o T r H n E ELECTRON

IF YOU HAVE AN ACORN ELECTRON OR ARE THINKING OF BUYING
ONE THEN YOU SHOULD JOIN THE ELECTRON USER GROUP.

Members receive 10 copies of the magazine ELBUG each year, FT BUG is devoted EXCLUSIVITY to the ELECTRON
MICRO. It is packed with news, Reviews, Hints, Tips, Programming ideas, Major articles, plus Regular program features
including games and useful utilities.

ELBUG, is produced by BEEBUG Publications Lid., publishers of BLLBUG, the magazine of the National User Group
for the BBC Micro, BEEBUG nim has some 20,01)0 members, and has achieved a high rcpulaliori both in this country and
abroad. Acorn and I be BIX' have both taken out multiple memberships, for example, and our articles are now syndicated
in Australia. (For further details of BEEBUG, see separate advertisement elsewhere in ibis issue,}

The formula which makes BEEBUG an invaluable companion for users of the BBC micro will be applied to ELBUG
By subscribing to ORBIT you gain all the advantages of a single-micro magazine, with no space wasted on programs and
articles for other computers.

Further benefits of membership:

Members' discount scheme with national retailers of software, hardware and books, with savings of up to 25%,

Members’ software library with a growing range of tides at special prices for members.

SPECIAL OFFER

SUBSCRIBE NOW, AND GET A FREE INTRODUCTORY CASSETTE CONTAINING 8 TESTED

PROGRAMS FOR THE ELECTRON.

1 . SPACE CITY Defeat the invading Aliens With your laser, and save the city.

2. 3D NOUGHTS AND CROSSES Pit your wits against the ELECTRON on a 4x4*4 board.

3. RACER Guide your racing car to victory, avoiding other cars and obstacles on the track.

4. 3D MAZE In this challenging game, you must escape from the maze — The screen displays a 3D view from inside the
maze.

5. PATCHWORK A multicoloured display of continuously changing patterns,

6. KEY SET ROUTINE A program to set up the user function keys,

7. MEMORY DISPLAY An efficiently written utility to diplay the contents of memory (ROM and RAM).

g, CHARACTER DEFINER Define individual graphics characters with this useful utility for use in your own programs.

RACER

SPACE CITY

HOW TO JOIN

Tl» sutwcrtlw (»r t»iw year, and gel your Ircc (TdSftfille, scud EV.90 'payable lo Orbit J pluv a vtrotlg stamped addressed envelope {fw I he caddie) lo:

ORBIT. PO BOX 109, High Wveombe, Bucks HP 11 2TD
SIX MONTH TRIAL SI BSCEtlPTION (5 ISMFSrt K t)S|.Y — LUKE CASSETTE OFFERS! 11.1. STANDS.

Mimihershipoimirfc l Tv umv ivanmli n Eitf and Lumpe €16. Middle Last HU. America & Afrit a €21. tithvr cuunirits €23.
Editorial address BEEBUG Publications, PO Box 50, St Albans, Herts, AL I 2AR

124

• Circle No. 166

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

THE AFFORDABLE TABLET

Qty

Item

Item

Price

Hem
Price
inc VAT

Totals

Grafpad complete

£125,00

£143.75

CAD. Program

£18,00

£20.70

Postage & Packing

£5,00

BBC MODEL 2

SINCLAIR SPECTRUM
COMMODORE 64

Total

To; British Micro, Unit Q2, Penfold Works, Imperial Way t
Watford, Herts WD2 4YY

I enclose cheque/ PO Order £ ® ClTCl© No. 263 *

Reese chaiqe my AOCESS/B AKCL A YC AKD/ AMERICAN EXPRESS/ DIMERS CLUB

Card No,

. m i i i i i i I

Signal ure

Name

Address

The new Argus
Above all, a true

Pro-personal.
16 -bit computer.

On performance alone, the new Argus
Pro-personal computer is way above the rest.

It's a true 8086-based 16-bit machine. And
it's fast-8MHz.

Our Argus Pro-personal also gives you a
choice of backing store from floppy right up to
big Winchesters, and memory up to 896K.

So you've got the capacity and speed for
professional-sized programs, and that means
savings in expensive professional time.

A NEW WORLD OF SOFTWARE

Running industry-standard CP/M-86 f , the
Argus Pro-personal opens your door wide to a
vast array of 16-bit application software.

Ferranti also supplies software packages for
major applications such as word processing
and spreadsheet calculations. Of course the
Argus Pro-personal can also run your existing
8-bit software.

It adds up to all the power and capacity you
need. Benchmark tests have proved it
outperforms its competitors.

_ A COMPLETE PACKAGE PUTS YOU
ONE UP

Right from the start the Argus Pro-personal
gives you what you want. CP/M-86* and BASIC
are included. So is 128K of memory-and it's all
available to you because the VDU has its own
memory for both alphanumerics and high
resolution graphics.

Check this out against the competition.

looking, with clear characters on an anti-
reflective screen. The VDU tilts and swivels,
and the keyboard, VDU and processor box can
be placed to suit the operator.

CP/M-86 1 is menu-driven so it's easier to use.

IF YOU'RE LAUNCFHNG AN
A utomat ed office

The Argus Pro-personal with the rest of the
Ferranti office product range allows access to
mainframe computers, so if you want it to be
part of a general office automation scheme,
there's no problem.

YOUREON FIRM GROUND
WITH FERRANTI

Behind the Argus Pro-personal computer, a
product at the leading edge of a fast moving
technology, is a company with over 20 years in
the computer business.

Ferranti has an unsurpassed reputation for
quality assurance and reliability.

So, your investment is protected for the
longest possible time. And you get a first-class
maintenance service to back it up.

For a high-flying computer the Argus
Pro-personal price tag is remarkably low level.

It starts at just £2,800.

Ferranti Computer Systems Limited,
Simonsway, Wythcnshawe,

Manchester M22 5LA.

Telephone: 061-499 3355, Telex: 668084

A COMPUTER WITH THE
HUMAN TOUCH

For all its professionalism, the Argus
Pro-personal computer is easy to live with. It's
user-friendly in every way. Compact and good

FERRANTI

Computer Systems

I

J

m

’ CP/M-86 is a trademark of Digital Research Inc.

I

Please show me how the Ferranti Argus Pro-personal
computer can serve my computing needs.

Name

Position

Company

Address

Telephone Telex

Ferranti Computer Systems
Simonsway, Wythenshawe
Manchester M22 5LA.

PC 2/84

• Circle No. 168

Limited,

CLEARLYA BETTER
WAY TO VIEW THE
FACTS IN BUSINESS

jA

(

Now you can transform even the most obscure facts into
high-quality, multi-colour A4 sheets or overhead projection
transparencies, making the Pixy Plotter the ideal aid for all
kinds of business presentation.

With the new 3-pen Pixy Plotter you can turn your diets
and figures into meaningful pie charts,

I flow charts, bar graphs, even circles,

!j arcs and spirals easily and quickly

And with the automatic pen change
you can achieve up to 8 brilliant
colours to create an extra dimension
for reports and presentations.

With its sleek, compact design, it's
the ideal companion for any popular

desktop micro, only requiring standard available software to
drive the plotter.

Its low cost now puts professional quality plotting within
the reach of even the smallest of businesses.

There’s never been a better way to put colourful pen to
paper (or film).

Why not get a fuller picture of what the
new Pixy Plotter can do, from your
nearest distributor or send for our free
colour brochure.

Mannesmann Tally Limited,

Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham,
Berkshire RG1 1 2QT. Tel: (0734) 7887 1 1 .
fclcx: 847028. . Circle No. 1 69

MANNESMANN TALLY

PIXY PLOTTER

CREATING THE RIGHT IMAGE FOR BUSINESS

U,K. DISTRIBUTORS C.K. SUPPLIES LTD WESTON-SUPER-MARE (0934) 418H38 CPS BIRMINGHAM (U21707)38&5 ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY COMPUTING WARRINGTON
(0925) 82464S FREIGHT COMPUTER SERVICES ENFIELD M-367 42 m MT DIRECT WOKINGHAM $*734) 791868 NORTH 1IEEMS l.TI> SHEFFIELD (0742) 700321

IRISH DISTRIBUTOR CARA DATA COMM DUBLIN 42%66

>OPEN FILE

PRACTICAL COMPUTING FEBRUARY 1984

Open File
monitors

Apple John Harris

Atari Jack Schofield

BBC Nicholas McCutcheon

Commodore Mike Todd

Dragon Ian Stobie

Epson HX-20 John Weilsman

IBM PC Jack Schofield

Newbrain David Watt

Tandy John Weilsman

Research Machines Ian Stobie

Sharp John Hooper

Sinclair John Weilsman

Open File is the part of the magazine
written by the readersof Practical
Computing. All aspects of
microcomputing are covered, from
games to serious business software
and utilities. Fully-debugged
programs can be submitted for any
micro, and for standard CP^M
machines such as the Osborne and
Superbrain. Programs can be in
machine code or any language,
including Forth and Pascal.

Submissions should include a brief
description which explains what your
program does, and how it does it. If
possible It should be typed, with
lines double-spaced. We need a
printed program listing. Hand-written
listings cannot be accepted. A tape
or disc of the program helps if it is in
a standard format.

When printing listings, please
remember to use a new ribbon or
double-intensity printing — faint
listings reproduce badly. Use plain
paper only, and try to list the
program across either a 35-character
or a 70-character width. Also, make
sure all special graphics or inverse-
video characters are either listed
correctly or else include Rem
statements to explain them fully.

Each program listing, tape or disc
must have your name and address on
it, or we cannot promise its safe
return. A stamped addressed
envelope is appreciated.

If you write in with a comment,
correction or enquiry please
remember to state the machine and
the program title.

We pay at least £10 for any
programs used, or £35 per page and
pro rata for part pages.

>BBC

4 -JA SENSATIONAL SIMON

1 JU An implementation of the
well known memory game.

4| CALCULATOR

1 Jv In John Humphreys'
arithmetical puzzle the computer
provides the numbers while you guess
which operators link them together .

✓•COMMODORE

4^1 TRANSFERRING
■ 3 # PROGRAMS

Mike Todd’s programming guidelines
and Basic patches will help you
convert Pet software for use on the
Commodore 64.

4| CATALOGUING DISCS

13 / L V Turner’s compact
utilities, suitable for both Basic 4 and
Basic 2, catalogue your disc files.

4k nn BOMBING MONSTER

1 JO This arcade game
illustrates Vic-20 graphics-
programming techniques which help
add that touch of excitement.

>NENBRAIN

4 ■JQ SCREEN DUMP

1 J «/ A Atkins’ routine
demonstrates how to address memory
for the currently open screen.

4k CARD INDEX

1 Search through a set

of electronic record cards and print
the result.

4k RENUMBER

1 J «7 The absence of this
useful function can be remedied with

A R Armitstead’s routine.

4k Jkf% BRAIN-MAN

1 HU A fast and furious
combination of maze, monster and
power pills.

>SHARP

4k Jk C HIDDEN LINES

1 How program lines may

disappear from a listed program, but
be implemented by the interpreter
when the program is run.

4| M C THE NULL-INPUT

1 PROBLEM

Pressing Return in response to the

Input prompt can make a nasty mess
of carefully formatted screen output;
this routine keeps things tidy.

>TANDY

4 Jt£Z GRAPH PLOTTER

1 This Basic program

will plot from Data statements or
tape or disc files.

4k >i r CODE BREAKER

1 HO A logic puzzle after the
classic Mastermind game.

>APPLE

4k Jk Q SHOOT-OUT

1 Dodge the approaching

invaders in D Turnbull’s game.

4 PA SCREEN FORMATTER

1 jU Save instructions or text
as binary files to be formatted for
display.

>ATARI

4 P '1 DISC SAVER

1 With H M Hoffman’s

routine you can recover a deleted file.

4P^ PAINTER

134 Chris Simon’s maze game
requires 16K of RAM and a joystick.

^SINCLAIR

4 rr SCRUBBER

1 30 How to reserve space
and load machine code.

4 CC VOCABULARY

1 30 Test your knowledge
of a foreign language.

Send your contribution to:

Open File, Practical Computing,
Quadrant House, The Quadrant,
Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

129

£

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(0

£

O

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M

£

0 )

(/)

o

CO

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

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DATA-

cWW

So powerful you’ll have a complete
application within hours

Layout your forms on the screen . Define data
entry fiefds anywhere by answering simple
questions , Revise the forms any time without
losing data.

Easy, fast and accurate way to fiff-in the forms
and enter , view or revise records.

The reports or transactions requirements are
defined in the English-like query language by
answering simple questions , Select records any
number of ways, combine up to 5 forms per
report , perform calculations , get totals f sub-
totals t or statistical summary. For complete
transaction processing , delete, modify or enter
records .

Reports are automatically formatted in several
ways, or specify your own format using the
Report Editor.

To format a report complete with text, data , and
graphs; use the optional MASTER WORD word-
processor or the GRAPH MASTER graphics
facility ,

* Display or print the report output , or take it to
your spreadsheet, word processing, or graphics
programs .

• Organise the access to your forms and reports
by setting up your own menus.

o The underlying Relational Database Manager
provides efficient storage and retrieval of
records. It uses B-tree indices for efficient
accessing of records, and cache memory to
retain the most recently used disk sectors to
reduce disk access by 50 percent.

ANOTHER NEW PRODUCT FROM

So easy fo use you’ll start using it in
minute s

1-K4ft£ -erwHn

EMPLOYEE HECOflD

F2 fl Ft - ! FT.- ■ F6 Fft.y:-;

Fully menu driven to remove the guesswork.

Full use of function keys with the assignments
always displayed , AH cursor movement and
editing functions on the keyboard are supported.
Provides full colour support and screen style
customisation.

System Features:

A fist of users can be kept, with passwords and
security levels ,

The print style is customisable.

Data can be interchanged with mainframe
computers, other databases or spreadsheet
programs.

Database back-up and restore functions are
integrated to reduce errors.

System Requirements :

Available on IBM-PC, SIRIUS , NCR, TEXAS ,

WA NG'PC, DEC and other W bit computers.
Requires a minimum of 128K memory and 2 disk
drives (on some micros a minimum of 192K
memory is required),

Supports floppy or hard disk drives.

Supports all popular printers.

LA.YOUT
THE FORMS

ENTER
'Hi DATA

SELECT

REP0RIJ

TRANSACTION

REQUIREMENTS

REPOFtw

transaction

DEFINITIONS

REPOftf

EDITOR

mastering^

repost^

’fisrafSnbi*'

OAT-AETASE

LAYOUT

REPORT

FORMATS

ENTER

OPTIONAL

REPORTS

transaction

data

Lay out
menus

SOME OF THE DATAMASTER APPLICATIONS:

Inventory Control, Personnel Management, Job Accounting Mailing List , Accounting, Order
Processing, Market Analysis , Financial Portfolio > Medical Office Systems , Real Estate, Agriculture,
Distribution Management, Social Sciences, Bibliography, Library Management, School Records .

esigned to let you
the way you want it!

ATLAST-adat
organise your busi

DATAMASTER is available NOW to let YOU organise your business
the way you want it. So clip the coupon to see a demonstration
of DATAMASTER on your own micro or at your local Sapphire dealer.

To: Sapphire Systems Ltd,, 1-3 Park Avenue, Ilford, Essex IG1 4UJ,

Telephone: 01-554 G582.

Please send me copies of Ihe DATAMASTER DEMONSTRATION

SYSTEM @ £5.50 inc. VAT & p.p. per copy for my: -
□ IBM -PC □ Sirius DNGR OTexas □Wang^PC DDEC

Please debit my:

Access Card No: E «■

Barclaycard No:, -,*,*.... — for £

I understand that £5.00 will be refunded on the return of the demonstration
system or on Ihe subsequent purchase Of the DATAMASTER full system.

□ Please arrange for a demonstration of DATAMASTER.

□ Please send me further details of DATAMASTER and the SAPPHIRE SYSTEMS
MASTER RANGE of business software,

Signature
Name

Computer type

Please allow 28 days for delivery Reg. No. 1467831 VAT No. 250078973

• Circle No. 170

Sapphire Syslems reserve inj rkjhi not to accept any order. ary Kceplance wif bo subject to Sapphire $y$iems' terms and Mndtiona d use. Sapphire Systems Lid . t^J Park Avenue, Word Essa*. Oi-Si* 0SS2

You’ll need professional help

DRG Dealers are fully qualified to guide you
safely through the process. Firstly we’ll discuss
your business and analyse your requirements,
then well recommend a package
of microcomputer, software
and peripherals at a price
that suits your pocket.

Hardware, software
and printers
The hardware in the
system will come
from the range of
best selling DRG Sirius
and DRG Apricot micro-
computers. It doesn’t matter
what your applications may be;

Microsystems Division
13/14 Lynx Crescent, Winterstoke Road,
Weston-super-Mare, Avon BS24 9DN
Telephone: (0934) 32525/415398

^^I’d like to know more about how my local DRG Dealer can

Name Position

Company .

Address.

AVON

Forbes Bus. Systems
6 Alexander Road
Clevedon 0272 879331

A.C. Barrattt & Co. Ltd
Bristol & South West
0272 51477 7

Cotswold Computer Svs
Yate, Bristol
0454 322440

MOS Computers Ltd
1 1 Portland Square
Bristol 421486

BEDFORDSHIRE

Mertech Systems
Adelaide St.. Luton
0582 37931

BIRMINGHAM

B’ham Computer Centre
Alcester Rd. Moseley
021 449 3686

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

Aylesbury Micros Ltd
Gatehouse Close
0296 32591 12

Kingsley Computers
High Wycombe
0494 449749/37172

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Herald Computers Ltd

Cambridge

0223 315662

CORNWALL

JM Computer Svs Ltd
Truro

0872 70071

DEVON

Bits & Bytes
Ilfracombe
0271 62801

CBS Business Systems
30 Southernhay East
Exeter 0392 21 7631

Micros South West
Coxside, Plymouth
0752 671990

om accounting, wages and invoicing,

) stock control, word processing and
lesign, your local dealer has a suite
if software that fits the bill. And when
comes to printers and peripherals,

/e think you’ll be pleasantly surprised
t the range and quality
if units we have available
d complete your system.

Extensive local training

slow you have a business system that not only matches your
equipments exactly, but also has the in-built flexibility to grow
vith your company. In order to get the very best from your
system, DRG Dealers provide extensive local training
xogrammes that leave nothing to chance.

Don’t forget maintenance
Dur nationwide on-the-spot service
a maintenance contract taken out direct with DRG.

This saves you any worries about local
availability and time wasting;
we’re never more than minutes away.

£ 600 m of support

Unlike any others, the DRG Dealer chain
(and more importantly their customers)
benefit from the strength and stability of
the £ 600 m DRG parent company.

Like the computer, we’re here to stay.

comouter is

step to take alone

DORSET

Brook Computers

Bournemouth

0202 526008/533051

EAST MIDLANDS

A.C. Barratt & Co Ltd
Derby, Notts. Lines
03317 3921

ESSEX

C&L Computers Ltd
Basildon

0375 675656/675677

HAMPSHIRE

Gosport Compuiers
Stoke Road, Gosport
0705 587862

Omega Computers
Hampshire Ltd. Alton
0420 87815 and 86031

HERTFORDSHIRE

Alpha Business Ltd
Church Street, Ware
092068926

HUMBERSIDE

Commercial Systems
Hull, Scarborough
0723 351469

KENT

Barratt Computer Grp
Vale Road, Tonbridge
0732 366661

LONDON (CENTRAL)

Data Systems
33 Gt James St, WC1
01 2429218/405 4006

Microcosm Research
26 Danbury Street N1
01 226 9092
LONDON (EAST)
Aspirin Computers
Ilford, Essex
01 594 4597 (5 Lines)

Cowlard Computer Svs
Barking, Essex
01 594 4597

LONDON (NORTH)

Chro masonic Systems
48 Junction Road N19
01 263 7341

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE STAFFORDSHIRE

LONDON (SOUTH)

Kensington Computers
Phil beach Gdns, SW5
01 3703802

LONDON (WEST)

Computaline Ltd
Oxford Circus, W1
01 434 4017

MANCHESTER (GREATER)

Eclipse Computers
Swinton, Manchester
061 793 5622

MIDDLESEX

Advanced Micro Tech.

Nr. Heathrow Airport
01 8901738

Avante Systems Ltd
9 Bridge St. Pinner
01 8681144

MIDLANDS

A.C. Barratt & Co Ltd
Northampton & Leics
0604 46331
A.C. Barratt & Co Ltd
136 Lawley Street
B'ham - 021 359 0161

Solenco Info Sys Ltd
19 Portland Terrace
0632 817783

NORFOLK

Sum lock Bondain

Norwich

0603617083

NORTH EAST ENGLAND

Key Computer Serv
Newcastle upon Tyne
0632 815157

SCOTLAND

Black Isle Systems
Inverness 038J 20276
Aberdeen 0224 20737

C,B. Business Systems
Fife 0592 202958
Glasgow 041 339 2237

Cont relate I Ltd
Forres St, Edinburgh
031 225 5975

Micro Applications
Grey friars, Stafford
0785 43414/5

SUFFOLK

Ipswich Comp. Centre
27 Old Foundry Road
Ipswich Tel: 214456

SURREY

A.P. Systems Ltd
90/100 Brighton Road
Surbiton 01 399 1257

Data international
231 High St, Croydon
01 686 0265

Microfaciiities
7 Church Road, Egham
0784 31333

J. Phillips Bus. Systems

Weybridge

09323 51051

SUSSEX

Amplicon Micro Sys
Richmond Rd, Brighton
0273 608331

WARWICKSHIRE

A.C. Barratt & Co Ltd
Leamington Spa
0926 34371

WILTSHIRE

Ridgeway Bus. Systems

Swindon

0793615666

YORKSHIRE

New World Micro
Horsforth, Leeds
0532 582018

YORKSHIRE (WEST)

Yes Compuiers
Fountain Street
Morley
0532 522181

YORKSHIRE (SOUTH)

Holbrook Bus Sys Ltd
High St, Mosborough
Sheffield 484466

• Circle No. 171

QUICKCODE-FOR PROFESSIONALS

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With QUICKCODE professionals can concentrate on using
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To give their clients fast and accurate results professionals

choose QUICKCODE.

QUICKCODE - FOR NEW USERS

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QUICKCODE creates a complete database from your
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QUICKCODE is a trademark of Fox 4 Geller
dBASE D is a trademark of Ashton Tate.

FOX&GELLER

Fox & Gefler (UK) Ltd, 17 Wigmore Street, London W1. Tel: 01-580 5816.

• Circle No. 172

>COMMODORE

by Mike Todd

Transferring programs

since the Commodore 64 has 40 characters
on a line, and uses the same character set as
the Pet and the same Basic, there should be
ample scope for using Pet programs
directly on the Commodore with little or no
modification. As long as the programs
contain no Peek, Poke, Sys or Wait
commands, they should be completely
portable.

In reality few programs are that simple.
The commonest Peeks and Pokes are to the
screen; on the Commodore 64 screen
memory starts at location 1024 whereas on
the Pet it starts at 32768. Fortunately, the
64 is flexible enough to move things around
so that the screen memory can be moved to
start at 32768.

The sequence of commands in listing 1
sets up the necessary parameters to make
the Commodore 64 look like a Pet. The
first line moves the screen itself, the second
tells the Basic interpreter what has
happened and the last two simply clear out
any rubbish that is left over.

Any Pet program can now be loaded and
examined, although it is possible that when
the program is listed the first line may be
badly corrupted. This is a result of the way
some Basic programs are saved, especially
on older-model Pets. If this does occur, it is
very simple to recover the situation by the
sequence of Pokes in listing 2.

Once the program has been converted
to your satisfaction, the necessary
reconfiguration can be achieved by adding
the three lines of listing 3 to the start of the
program and saving it again. In the future,

loading the program will not put it at the
same place in the 64 as it was in the Pet, but
this should not be a problem unless the
program is extremely long.

Despite all this, straight Pokes to the
screen will still not work. Whenever the 64
screen is cleared, the colour memory is reset
to the same colour as the background,
which means that any characters Poked on
to the screen will not be seen.

One way of solving the problem is to
Poke a colour into colour memory
whenever a screen Poke occurs. This can
most easily be done by simply adding 22528
to the screen Poke location and putting the
correct colour code there. Another way is
to fill the colour memory with a different
colour every time the screen is cleared. A
simple For-Next loop would do the trick,
but would be unbearably slow.

A neater solution is provided in the
subroutine of listing 4, which actually
makes use of the fact that the colour
memory is set to the background colour.
The first line changes the background
colour to the same colour as the current
character printing colour, in location 646,
first preserving the background colour.

The screen is then cleared, so setting the
colour memory, and then the background
colour is restored. By removing all Clear
Screen characters in the program, and
inserting Gosub 63400 just before each
Print statement containing a Clear Screen
character, the Poke problems on the screen
will be solved. It is, of course, possible that
there are other Peeks and Pokes in the

Listing 1.

POKE 53272.4: POKE 56576.5: POKE 640,120
POKE 56.120: POKE 44.4: POKE 1024.0
clear the screen
NEW

Listing 2.

POKE 1027. PEEK ( 1026) : POKE 1 026, PEEK ( 1025)
POKE 1025.0: POKE 43.2

Listing 3.

1 POKE 640.120: POKE 56576.5: POKE 53272.4

2 PRINT “C CLEAR]"

3 POKE 56,128: CLR

Listing 4.

63400 Z2=PEEK (53201 ) : POKE 53201 , PEEK <646>

63401 PRINT "C CLEAR 3 M t

63402 POKE 53281, ZZ
.63403 RETURN

program which are rather trickier to deal
with, but they will have to wait until a later
date.

Finally, there is a bug on the Com-
modore 64 which affects the Input
command when the prompt continues over
the end of a line. The Pet is quite happy
with this, but the 64 will not read the input
correctly, so some Input statements and
their associated Prints may have to be
changed to avoid printing beyond the end
of a line.

1 must thank Bob Merry of Stockport for
providing many of the ideas for using Pet
programs on the Commodore 64.

Cataloguing discs

There are many ways of getting at the file
names on a disc, all of which involve
opening special files and a lot of
Get # commands. These methods certainly
work, but they require careful counting of
the characters received. The result is often a
complicated and rather inelegant program.

Now L V Turner of Colchester has
produced an extremely simple and rather
elegant approach to the problem. It
involves reading the directory and
generating a sequential disc file containing
all the directory information. His program
relies on the Directory command in Basic 4,
which normally prints the directory on to
the screen, and the method is simple.

Listing l shows the program which, First
of all, opens a suitable sequential file on the
disc in line 200. There is no reason why this
should not be an Append command so that
a complete file of all disc directories is built
up. Just before the Directory command is
issued, the output which would normally
(continued on next page)

Cataloguing discs.

Listing 2.

Listing 1.

**************** ******* *

100 REM #****-»**#*#«*-**-******#-**

*

*

110 REM *

*

* DISK CATALOGER -

*

120 REM * DISK CATALOGER -

*

*

*

130 REM *

*

* BASIC 2 + DOS 2

*

140 REM * BASIC 4 + DOS 2

*

*

*

150 REM *

*

* L V TURNER

*

160 REM * L V TURNER

*

*

*

170 REM *

*

******************•*-**-*-*•*

180 REM +

LOAD " S " , 8

200 DGPEN42 , "CATALOG" , D0 , W

210 CMD2

OPEN 2,8,2, "0: CATALOG, S,W"

220 DIRECTORY

CMD2 : LIST

230 PRINT #2

F‘R I NT #2

240 DCL0SE42

CL0SE2

300 REM #***********************

300

REM *******V****************

310 REM *

*

310

REM *

*

320 REM * READ CATALOGUE

*

320

REM * READ CATALOGUE

*

330 REM *

*

330

REM *

*

340 REM ***##*#***##■«■******#***#

340

REM ************************

400 D0PEN42 , "CATALOG" , D0

400

OPEN 2.8,2, M 0: CATALOG, S,R“

410 INPUT#2,AS

410

INPUT #2 , AS

420 PRINT AS

4 20

PRINT AS

430 I NPUT #2 , AS

430

1 NPUT 42 , AS

440 IF ST =64 OR AS=" " THEN 470

440

IF ST =o4 OP AS= " THEN 470

450 PRINT AS

450

PRINT AS

460 GOTO 430

460

GOTO 430

470 DCL0SE42

470

CL0SE2

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

137

>C0mODORE

Bombing Monster.

10 POKE 5164,0
30 60S LIB 5000

96 POKE 36879,24
99 PR I NT " [CLEAR]"

J00 POKE 56,26: POKE 52,26: CLR

105 AA=RND(~Tl> :M=4

107 A(i>-5:A<2>^4:A(3>=2iAU>~7

110 POKE 36666,23

1 15 POKE 36B7B, 10

120 POKE 36067,56

130 POKE 36B64,ll

140 POKE 36065,27

150 POKE 36869,253

160 FOR r=B TO 7: POKE 5 1 20+ I , 0: NEXT
170 FDR I — 0 TO 7: READ A: POKE 5128+ T ,A
: NEXT

180 DATA 60 , 1 IB , 23 1 ,247 T 247 , 247 , 1 26 T 60
190 FOR 1=0 TO 7 ; READ Ai POKE 5136+1, A
: NEXT

200 DATA 60 , 1 02 ,219, 247 , 239 , 1 95 , 126 T 60
210 FOR 1=0 TO 7: READ A sPOKE 5144+1, A
: NEXT

220 DATA 60, 102,219,247 , 219, 102, 126,60
230 FOR 1=0 TO 7: READ As POKE 5152+1, A
: NEXT

240 DATA 60,110,235,227,251,251,126,60
250 FOR 1*0 TO 7; READ A: POKE 5160+1, A
: NEXT

260 DATA 24,60,126,90,126,231,255,219
270 FOR 1=0 TD 7; READ A: POKE 516B+1,A
iNEXT

200 DATA 127,62,62,62,62,62,28,8
290 FOR 1=0 TO 7s POKE 5 1 76+ 1 , 255s NEXT

490 FOR I=3788B TO 38554; POKE I, 6: NEXT
495 FOR 1=7168 TO 7834: POKE 1,0: NEXT

500 FOR 1=1 TO 7: READ A,B
510 FOR J=A TO B ; POKE J+7168,7
;POKE J+37B8B,0: NEXT; NEXT

520 DATA 506,500,526,532,548,556,570,
580 , 592 , 604 , 6 1 4 , 628 , 636 ,666
530 POKE 7294,4
550 FOR 1=509 TO 635 STEP 2
560 J=INT<RND{TI)+4+n
570 IF PEEK (716B4I)<>7 THEN POKE 37 BO
8+ I , A (3 ) ; POKE 7 1 68+ I „ J : S2=S2+J
500 NEXT

600 A=lNT<RND(in* 101 +1 1 ; B = 0

610 POKE 716B+A*23+B,5
; POKE 7!67+A*23+P,0
620 B=B+ 1 i 1 P 8=23 THEN POKE 7167+A*23
+ B , 0 : GOTO 600

630 IF PEEK U 97 X >64 AND CT .• 1 THEN C=1
c D*B : E=A; POKE 36877,128
SPOKE 36876, 250: POKE 36077,0
SPOKE 36876,0
640 IF COt THEN 770
650 FOR F«=i TO 2
660 Dl=D: E1=E; D=D+* 5: E=E+ 1
670 IF PEEK <71 6S+E*23+Dl =7 THEN GOEUB
2000: GOTO 750

6B0 IF PE£K(716B+E*23+D> < >0 THEN GOSU
B 1000:0010 750

690 POKE 7168+E*23+D,6

; POKE 7 L6B+E1 *23+D I ,0
750 NEXT F; GOTO 800
770 FOR F=1 TO 50: NEXT F
O00 SOTO 610

1000 POKE 36077,200
1010 S=S+PEEK<7168+E*23+D)
1020 POKE 7I68+E*23+D,0

sPOKE 7160+E1#23+D1 ,0
1030 C=0:E=0: D=0rF=2
1040 POKE 36077,0
1050 IF 3^32 THEN GOTO 3000

1060 RETURN

2000 POKE 7168+E1*23+D1 ,0
2010 FOR 1=230 TO 200 STEP-1

; POKE 36876, I: NEXT: POKE 36876,0
2020 M-M- I i POKE 7294, M
; IF M=0 THEN 3000
2030 C=0; D=^0: E=0; F=2
2040 RETURN

3000 POKE 36864, 12: POKE 36865,38

: POKE 36 B66 ,150: POKE 36067,174
: POKE 36869,240

3010 PR I NT ,K C CLEAR, BLUE 3"

3015 IF WE=1 THEN 3025
3020 PR I NT "' THAT 'WAS' YOUR 'LAS T'"'M I S
S ! ! f 11

3025 PR I NT " C DOW N 3 'V OUR 'SCORE 'WAS " S
3027 PRINT" 'THAT' IS" I NT TS/S2# 1000+ * 5 >
710" CLEFT ]X'OF'MAX 1 "

3031 IF S>PEEK f 5 1 04 ) THEN PRINT "'WOW,
'YOU r VE'BEATEN'"'THE'HI -'SCORE"
:POKE 51 @4, Si GOTO 3035

3032 PR I NT " | DOWN 1 'HI-SCORE : "PEEK ( 5 1 04 >
3035 POKE 198,0: REH CLEAR INPUT BUFFER
3040 PRINT" t DOWN ] 'DO' YOU 'WANT ' ANOT HER "
3050 INPUT "'GO" ; A$

3060 IF LEmA$}=0 OR LEFT*tA$,

1 ) ="Y "THEN RUN 50

3070 PRINT" C D0WN1 'OKAY , 'CHICKEN 1 ! "

3080 END

5000 POKE 36879,25
50 10 PRINT" [CLEAR, BLUE J

"ROMS I NG' MONSTER""" [CYAN IF

5020 PR I NT "C BLACK, DOWN 1

Y OU 'RELE ASE' T HE'B DliBS 'BY' HITTING
'ANY'KEY* "

5030 PR I NT" C RED , DOWN ] THE'TARGE TS' ARE'

WORTH' THE' AMOUNT' THAT' IS PR I N

TED'ON'THEH* ,r

5040 PR I NT" £ BLACK, DOWN]

I F'YQU'M I SS'YOU'W ILL"LOSE'0NE'N
□NS TER. "

5050 PRINT" [RED, DOWN 3 THE 'AMOUNT '0 F ' MO
NOTE RSLEF T , ' I S'THE ' NUM BE R' " I N ' T
HE 'M I D DL E' OF ' T HE' '8 GREEN . ”

5060 PR I NT" [ GREEN , DOWN 2 , RIGHT41
LET ' S'START 1 ”

5070 PR I NT " E RVS , R I GHT4 3 HI T' ANY'KEY !
CRV0FF1"

5080 GET A$j IF A$-" "THEN 5080

5090 RETURN

(coni in ued from previous page j

go to the screen is redirected to the disc file
with the CMD2 in line 220,

As the directory is read, it is no longer
printed on the screen but is redirected to the
disc file. Lines 230 and 240 do the necessary
closing out routine when the directory is
complete. Now the file exists as a series of
individual sequential file entries, each
separated by a Carriage Return. They ban
be read back again using the Input#
command.

An example of how this could be done is
also included in the program. Line 410
reads the directory heading, and then lines
430 to 460 read the rest of the directory and
print it to the screen. Of course, there is no
reason why line 450 should not be replaced
with a routine to put the file information
into an array or to extract any information
required simply using the MidS command.

Those who have worked with computers
for more than a few weeks will not be
surprised to learn that there are problems
with the technique. The file Catalog will be
shown as though it has not been closed.
This is to be expected, as the file was open
while the directory was being read.

The disc drive handles directories rather
differently to normal files, and there are
problems w r hen it comes to do the Blocks
Free total at the end of the directory. In fact
it will not make much sense, so it should
not be used to work out how much space is
left. The final problem is that, for some
reason, trying to read the directory of only
one of the drives does not work. This again
is probably a quirk of the way that the disc
operating system generates the directory
listing,

A version for Basic 2 users is given in
listing 2, The main problem is that Basic 2
has no facility for listing the directory
directly on to the screen. You have to
execute a few commands directly from the
keyboard; they are given at the start of the
listing. The principle is exactly the same,
but the directory must first be loaded into
the computer, and then listed to the disc
drive.

With this technique, the problems of
having Files open while reading the
directory no longer exist, and the directory
loading can be for one or both drives and
can follow the usual conventions of a
selective directory listing. For instance, to
read only the program files from drive l,
replace the Load command with;

LOAD"$1:* = P u t 8

The number of blocks free should be
correct.

So, where is the problem? The last line to
be listed will actually be the “Ready.”
message that would normally have been
printed on the screen. However, as long as
you know it is there it should not cause any
difficulties.

The read-back operation is almost
identical to the Basic 4 version, except that
the file is opened in the Basic 2 way, as in
line 400. There is no doubt that this is a case
of “Why didn't 1 think of it before?”

Bombing Monster

Games are often a useful way of learning
programming techniques, especially when
they include the complexities of high-
resolution graphics or user-defined char-
acters, Thomas and Kim Gustafsson have
written a fairly simple bombing game for
the Vic-20, in which a craft flies across the
screen and drops a bomb when a key is
pressed. The object is to destroy as many of
the round objects at the bottom of the
screen as possible.

Each target object is actually a user-
defined character containing a number
which represents the score achieved when iL
is hit. Only four misses arc allowed before
the game stops and you are given the score.

The distinguishing feature of this game is
that the bomb does not drop straight down.

Instead, it continues travelling from left to
right with an dement of interna, which
makes the task of targeting that much more
difficult.

The program is in several distinct
sections. Initial setting up, including the
setting of the Vic control registers, is done
in lines 98 to 150, and the character
definitions are set up is lines 160 to 290.
Each character is set up individually, with
the first being a space, all Os, and the last a
solid block, Is. Lines 490 to 580 set up the
screen itself. The game proper continues
from line 600 onwards, the instructions
being held in a subroutine at line 5000.

The techniques used show how straight-
forward it can be to set up a simple
sequence of user-defined characters to
make a simple game look just that bit more
exciting.

138

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

>NEWBRAIN

by David Watt

Screen dump

ONE OF the first responses to my request
last July for a text -editing program to
complement Letter Writer came from Mr A
Atkins of Coventry, Although not quite
what 1 had in min, it is interesting in itself
and demonstrates how to address the
memory for the currently open screen* The
program will work with either 40 or 80
character lines, and you can select the lines
you wish to print*

Bytes 92 and 93 hold the address of the
current screen’s data area, calculated at line
60030. Line 60070 calculates the location of
the first byte of the display buffer; the first
byte of the screen data area contains an

offset from which it can be worked out.
The questions appear on the VF display of
a model AD. If you have a model A delete
line 60010 and remove all references to
stream £3 for the prompts to be displayed
on the video screen.

To use the program, open stream 0 with a
suitable line width and number of lines. To
print a letter, just type it in using the cursor-
control keys to go to a new line. To print a
portion of a program, or a display created
by a program, load the program using
Merge; the program must not use line
numbers above 60000. Then run Screen
Dump by typing Goto 60005.

£0005 RCM "SCREEN DU HP"' BY A. A. ATKINS
600 1 0 CLOSE i OPE N£ 3 , 3
60020 CLOSE £S:OPEN£G, B, "1 200 ,r
60030 TV "PEEK < 92 > + 256+PEEK ( 93 J : REM ADD
RESS OF CURRENT VIDEO OWN MEMORY
60040 ML=PEEK < TV+4 ) : REM NO. OF DISPLAY
LINES HELD IN BUFFER
60050 CH=PEEK(TV+5J ; REM NO. OF DISPLAY
CHARACTERS PER LINE

6006 0 EL-PEEK <TV+4 > : REM TOTAL BYTES PE
R LINE

60070 TV=TV+P£EK<TVV+53 REM DISPLAY BLPF

PER FIRST LOCATION

600S0 FRINT£3, "FIRST. LINE NO.^"

60090 !NPUT£3,FL
60100 FL=INT < FL>

60110 IFFL<0 OR FL>ML THEN PRINT£3, “WRON

G ENTRY": GOTO 90

60 J 20 PRINTS 3* "LAST LINE NO. 7"

£0130 INPUT £3 * EN
60140 EN=IMT£EN>

60150 IF EN ' FL OR EN>ML THEN PR INTO, "Wft
□NS ENTRY " : GOTO 130
60170 FOR I=FL TO EN

601 SO
60190
n+j));
60200
60210

FOR J=0 TO CH~I

PRINT ES, CHR* ( PEEK < TV+GL* £ I -

NEXT J
PRINTCS
£0220 NEXT I

60230 CLOSE £3: GLOSSES: END

Card Index*

10 FORI-1T025S CLCittn! >SE::? ! GPEPiPtf.0 QRf-.mn t? i QPE( |*Y ■ 6
20 OPTIMHBAStl D|HA*£1®®> PIMP' 3Y-T D1MT*' N ■

109 PUTS*. 3. 10 ' 'TO VW UYOH T® LOAD INDEX tARDI - F ' . :l 1, -tppM OMS-SETTE'
1 13 PUTSE.24,1? -v i: * - * CETn^.p (Fp , 1 lBRWPOlZlTHL'

1 20 Pin ? 3 1 FP= 1 1 QTHEHGtfSOfc 1100* GOTO20®

130 C£ FUT22.fi* 10= ?"FRESS F^AY ON THE T RECORDER"

140 PU Ta.r.lSiT-THEN ANY KEY THE KEYBOARD"
t30 CCTini.O TFi>CSTHEHi30

t60 PUT31 ,££. 11 , [£. ^"LOflfitNC -.THE' 23 ‘ rnst'j PUT22 ST*. ! 2

LTO OPEHlim??. J . "INDEX" FOPA= L T® 3 OO L fci. « , NEJ'TH FOFH- 1 T®:®

L 30 L IT4PUT <?S . T*- fl ■ FOP i T®**, 1 nPi.iT #S5 r f”. A , £ t . u&XTB 1 E : ' t h CLOSE #?5 WTO 200
200 PVTKI 2? 4 .< ■#! GOSUB 126® PuT3l .22 . 5 . 1 1 *- IS THIS CORRECT .- y n ■ ■

210 cETne.Q- iF«- >nenNDQ</isuHENaie

220 1 FO" t 10 Then 1 900

230 UM COSUB270D FORi>i.T0I0P

240 COSUBl WSU6 l 200- POt-Sl .2*1.6, 1 L -"I: THIS CARD CORRECT ■■ N >'■ "

230 PUT2E.2 I 3 ’"'PRESS ESCAPE If ft FINISH PtRfc IH6 ENTRIES
2S0 CE T #fi , O I F®< >H BANDO* >121 >27 THEH26®

270 IF®- HOTKEY*®

2S0 IF0-27TKEM5eO
250 NEXT.;

■00 F£M REAOIHG AND INDEXING CARE---
SIS PUT#! ,31 GOSUBUeO WSoBllOO

24® PfJfSl PtjT22.4 .6 1 SPECIFIC TITLES RGffU I RED " L I *= I

23® PUTZ2 . 4,s 7 "FACE 2 SPECIFIC CARO HijHBER’S”

360 FU1T22,4,I® 7" FACE 3 SEQUENT IftL CARD FflCIHC*

400 PUT22 . 4 . 2-0 . 7 " FACE REQUIRED ? " QETHfr.O IFQ^5JORCK4 ®ThEN400

42® IFQx43THENQgSU?2100

430 JFCNMTHtHOTSUB2200

44® IFQ-31THCHQ0SCt»24ea

5M C0T034®

109® REM USE* 3*iPlJl

1O10 RUT#1 .25.K.Y.20 GET#] , A PUT#! , 22 . X* Y . CHR*?: 137 r

1020 G£Ttt6.fi IFB-27flHtM*l-0THEK19W5

1030 1RB026AMDB^ >17ANIDB ' ■J7RNPB'' 3ZTHENGOSUE1700

1 040 IPS MJSANPB^ 1 23THENB-B-32

1050 I FB “2STHENS* A

1060 1 F i ■ 1 7THENB*i 95

1070 pyTHl h Z2.X*Y r CHR*< B ‘

1060 1FB-0THENB-32

1050 PETUBH

11B0 RErt CflfiO &0R6ER

111® FgR^-5TO50:f>uT«l .22.X, *3. 125, 22. K. 20, 123 NEMTX
1120 F0RY-6t0|0;PtiT«l .2-2,2, Y.. 130.22, 35, Y, 130 MEKTY
1130 PIF#1 *22,2,3. 135,22,55,3. 136.22,2.20. 1 37. 22. 35 . 20* 13o
1140 RETURN

1200 RE It STANBRRU CARt-

1210 PUTil* 22*3.21 :?H* - IH3ERT fot* r-^ply jpkj , " ; CHP*C 1 57 'r, " t* Ujv» j

1211 PUT»l,22*3.22^7lH,“t*>;t ESCAPE to stir*t "

1220 1-0 00SUBIS00 FORY46TD19 FORK h* 5 I D2E : I FX-SSTHENCi-O - 110101250

: LC® CCJMf 1 TFT 1 ** j AMC*F*-F": tufh^

3240 3P0-2AHDB-: J93THENQ-0

1230 Urb< >53ANDQ-0TMENT-T+1 :RCT.4 P<T,3 -Y Q»1
3240 IPE-SJANDQ-OTHENI’I + I P‘ E-3 •=:■: P' I ,2 Q-2

3 070 I FQ* 1 THENT^^ T T . 4CHP* 1 ? '

3 I FQ-2THENP': [ , 3 >"P< I , 3 I

1250 NEXTX NE.HTY RETURN

1300 PEM INDIVIDUAL CARD INPUT

1310 PUT#1 ,22,3/El :?«1, "Tlwrt . CNR*^ 53 • J “" «sll n*t fc-i p^sflttd '

1 320 PUT # 1 , Z2 .3,22 7*1 . "u** the " . CHR*^ 197 >. - W l**v» tft* t+*t jlart*."

S S25 I F F PEE< 1 300THENZ30O

3210 A«C C S-" " FQRF*1 T030 1 > . Y-R* R,^,* L-P< P.3'

3340 IFR^OTHEN: lFP(fi*i , 3 >»®THENRETURM

3530 FOPX»ZTOZ^L-I CO9VEEO«0 3 Ff=33THeHS-32
1 3J60 A*r C >*■«*•; C B> KEKTH : NEXTR RETWH

1400 REM PR HITS 3TWrc«BT> CAR'D

3 410 FQPR-1TO30 ; I3?RC R.4TC30ftPC R, 4 ^>37THEHRETURN
1420 PUTltl .22.F<R.4 >.(KR.3 - TH 1 , T*< ft > j HEHTR RETURH
14®0 REM SRVE INDEX CAROS

133® PUT31 ,22.2. 10 ’"PRESS RECORD ON THE TAPE RECORDER THEN" f*UT22.3,12
►32® ’"IfltlV Pi'EY t?N THE KEYBOARD"

133® CClUR.O 3FQC3THEN1330

T 340 PUT31, 22, 12*12 IHDEH CARDS'"

133® CUJ8E#9S : OPENOUmSS , I . H IT4DEK W FORfti-lTOlM t# 5 5 ,a« tfty

1 36® : PORA^ 1 T050 r TH59 . f ■< A > . F ORB- 1 1®3 7 . fc. p , b * . NEXTR . HEXTA = CLQSER95

137® RETURN

ISO® REH PRINTS IHDXVIDURL CARD

16i® Rurni .22,5.6 ?»1 . " " PUT#t,22.e.6 ?*t,C IFC-®THENRETUfin

1 620 I Fft« t >* " " THENG03UB 1 SOO

16M R4| rORR*lTO30.X*P^R.l ■ P , 2 , L-Ph'P.^J

1640 | FK-OSORYs 3THEHPETUPN

l®30 PUTil ,22.X, Y 7*1 * MID*'- A**:e>.P,L>

1660 Pi-P+C NEXTRiRETURN
I/O® REH DELA^■

1710 Potii .22,X,Y,CHR*CA>

1720 F0RO- 1 TO30 : GET*£ . B 1FB >310RB“260RB“ i 7THENRETURH
173® I F R-£7flMDL I -OTHEWl® 00
1 740 HEXtO . PLIT# 1.22.X. Y . C HR* r ' I 27 >

3 730 FORD 11 1 T 020 ' GE T B 6 . B IFB HOPS ' C'iOPBM7THENRETUFN

1760 IFB427fllJDLI-0THEN1500

1770 NEXTD GOTO 1700

1000 REH PRINTS EMPTY CARD

1010 R*l FORR4lTO30.XX«F''R. I 1 Y«P<R,2J L*P'.R,3.-
1 620 1 Fl^X'l 30RY< 3THENRETURN
1030 FORX^XXTOXX+L-1

1340 PUT*! , 22 .x. V r#] J CMR*C53>-I»EKTX U 2 XTR RETURN
150® REM LEAVE® TP: : T ON STREAM Onr
1910 CLEAR OPTIONPA5E1 .OIMA*' 10O 1
1 520 M MR* 30 . 3 J ■ 0 1HT If 3® ' 0OTO2O0
2100 REM TITLE REOU I RED

2110 RUTS L , 22 .IO.ll TITLE I® REOUlRED" PUTE2- 13. 15 LlTJPUT' " " " "

2120 FORA-L TOLEHI £*>. t-«5CtmD»' £* , A , 1 ) ’* :R*°n J D*t E*,® . 1 ;

2130 I FT * 5 dA 1 R*t 12. : i Hp*r i*; r. ipR.i,- £r,rt. i j >-j:

2E40 Bi' j B3*R5 HEMTA 0-0 FORC^lTOlOO IFftSCLflfc C ? 2-OTHEM2150

2130 I F I NSTR'i B*' C >OT HENGOSUB 1 600 GO5UE2600 OOSUE200O

21 E 0 NEXTC

2i70 centre loo

2200 REM CARD mc^PEP

2210 PUTSl .22.10. I® lt*7.U' "CARD JfljMBER REQUIRED “ >C IFC tOQOPC ■ L THEN22I0
2220 COSUB l < 00 •• S«»0O . T.OeUBZUOB G0SUB27O0 COTO22O0

2300 CLOSE#® RECE PPShT® CAsPD ON GF-CSOfl
2510 OPEN#® . 6 . -24 W LFvnCHPtc’ 1 6

2220 F0RM-6TO2D ¥■*- F0RN»4TO37 PUT# 1 . .22,11 . M . 20 CET#t.D 3F0 02THEH£H'32

: :0 K*-l * h:HR#- ® i EfiflH F 0 #M 1- 1 TO' LfiNi.P* > ■ :•#; .nlf*- H.N.Ji, HEXTH
2240 ^#S,LF*HEXTH RETURH
2400 PEM SEQUENT 1 PL CARDS

341® PUT-31 ,22 .12. 12 IHRUT*' "STn^TITTC, CARDT " ■* ®-A T Frr>^®QRK< I THEN2+M

2 J 20 FOROK-TOtO® IFftSCc®*- -OTHEH.7440

Z430 GD5UB1S0® CO^JBKOO COSUE25W

.T440 uE:;ti: IFO *5THFnO®S®BS7in0

2430 RETURN

23O0 FUT 3 ] , 22 ■ . I ® ‘ -S P v 1 NSUFf 1CIEHT tklRJiRv AVAI LftBL E " PUT 22.2 12
2750 FORD-1T05*® nl ; ::Il H4 5l COTO74 0
2600 REM ONL‘.- [F ■ I TlE PRESENT

2610 Fl it #1 ,22.3.23 :#1 t ... F crifli , A i-. : , *lt<r . -

262® PUT# I 2 7,22 * H I ., “ESC AF'F r'*>i -FAi.E PAR ■ 11 FF.ti.iPIj

270n PUT # 1 , 22 ■ 1 .- 1 -n F^Jl # 3 2 .; , t . 22 , SO FT 1 - 4=1 i
2200 PEM OFtlOfTi
ZOtO CFT#f-..i' IP 0 '.- 9 THEUGSI 0
: 620 I F 1 2 V' T Ht i iC®^UP270® L •' ia
30 IF'-' >- - 7 T HE 1 #V ‘-=.M P 2 TPO -iOWtl .'0®

BS40 I FQ' ■ t 1 2 THE! ' (P27®®

2?3fi j FQ-. 1 1 3TNEHG®S ijp [ -4m

2560 rcnipu

Screen Dump program for listing of main program.

60000 FORI r 1 10253 CLOSE# I NEXT I DFEim® . O . "L I 7® " LIST -333®® QPEN#3,8, "2400" LPi-C
M7«' I O j F0R3*- IT® 1 70 ; FORX* 1 1«» • PUT22 . X , l , Z® OETQX JB**CHR*< OK > - NEXTX FOPX= 3 T
ueo 7#8 . HI D*< JD* , X , 1 J : ' HEHTJt 7#e,LF* FOPD*|t®20 NEXlTO PUTS JD**" ,L HEKTYEHD

Card index

This program by Stephen Hail of
Horndean, Hampshire allows users with no
programming experience to format their
own index cards* You can search through
them for any word or value, and print the
results of the search on a Seikosba
GP-250X printer, if available.

Amendments are easily made by pressing
A when the card eq be altered is shown on
the screen* The cursor then appears and can
be moved to the area to be altered by using

the Right Cursor control* Any card shown
can be printed by pressing P, and the 100
index cards can be saved on cassette by
pressing S. Concise instructions are given
on the screen.

Renumber

This useful routine to renumber the lines
of your Basic programs has been sent in by
Mr A R Armitstead of Blackpool* It will
not alter your Gotos and Gosubs, so you
will have to trace them yourself. Programs

to be renumbered should not contain any
lines numbered 60000 or greater.

To use the routine merge it into the
program to be renumbered, set the starting
line number and step size at lines 60140 and
60150, then type Goto 60000* The routine
does not renumber itself, so it can be used
again.

The Newbrain stores program lines in an
unusual way, using three distinct areas of
memory eo hold all the information needed
to execute a statement. The line-number
(continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

139

>NEWBSAIN

U ontimtvd from previous page)

table, LNT, contains an cniry for each
Basic statement, consisting of:

• The statement line number as two
bytes, low then high.

• A pointer to the compressed Basic
statements as two bytes; this is the
second area, the source code area.

• A pointer to the compiled version as
two bytes, l f the statement has not been
compiled, it contains 0. This is the
object code area.

The LNT is pointed to by locations IY + 30
and IY + 31 , where the address of !Y is
stored at locations 22 and 23.

Lines 60260 to 60360 contain a routine to
display the first 18 entries of the line-
number table. They are not pan of the
renumber program and may be deleted if
not required.

Renumber

60000 REM Renumbers the line nutrib&irs OIML
V- not the gators etc.

60010 DEE FNln<n>=FEeKtn)+296^E£Mn+n
60020 REM iy : =1 Y ZSO register.

60030 iy=FMln<22>

60040 REM bis gives the base af the tine-
number table.

6G05G bs=FNlntfy+30>

60060 REM -find end d-F user program: -i t e
nds when this renumber program is -Found
at line no. 60000.

60070 i=bs+6
60080 j=0

60090 IF FNlnd i =60000 THEN GOTO 60140
60100 j — j + 1

60110 REN j holds number ta-f lines.

60120 i=i+6
60130 GOTO 60090

60140 5=100 : REM s!=starting line no

60150 St- 10 : REM st:=stepsize

60160 REN renumber table
60170 FOR k=l TO j

60 l SO sa-FAL£E : REM sa: =samel i nenumber
60190 i=bs+6*k

60200 IF FIMln U ) =FNln (i+6) THEN s a -TRUE
j REM catch multiple statement

1 i nes.

60210 POKE i , 5-256*1 NT t s/256)

60220 POKE i+l s I NT < s/256 >

60230 IF NOT f sal THEN s=s+st : REM Only a
dd st i-f different line number.

60240 NEXT k
60250 END

60260 REM prints out same table entries
to show structure.

60270 bs=FNl n (FN1 n ( 22 ) +30)

602E0 PRINT " line no. source code o
bject code' 1

60290 PRINT TAB (16) ? "pointer pointe

r 11

60295 FOR i=i TO 40: PRINT CHR$ (1 29 ) ; : NEX
T is PRINT

60300 FOR i=bs TO bs+19*6 STEP 6

60310 FOR j-i TO i +S

60320 PRINT PEEK (j > 143 J

60330 NEXT j

60340 PRINT

60350 NEXT i

60360 END

Brain Man.

1 rem +*

2 REM +*

3 REM ** BY RORY STAFFORD

4 REM *+ 7. 19S3

5 REM ++

14 REM ** SET MR FDR GAME

15 PUT31 , 23, 72, 22,3, 15; PRINT "DO YOU WA
NT INSTRUCTIONS CLOSE £10: OPEN CIO.

6

16 GET £10 , A*; IF A*="y hl GOSUB 2000: GOTO
20

17 IF ASC CA$ ) -0 OR A*O tf n“ h GOTO 16
10 GOSUB 2210

20 PUT 31: SC-0; SF-lO: EU)"1106i Ei2i =
1496

30 E 131=11 12; EC43=l490i FR=1:CH=9H: RAN
DOMTZE

49 REM ** START GAME

50 GOSUB 600

56 IF R< >2 THEN PUT 22,6, 19s PR TNT SC+SF
60 GOSUB 100
SO GOTO 56

99 REM ** PLAYER MOVEMENT GET

100 GET £10, M<; IF ASCfMfc)=0 THEN 160

120 IF M*="n" THEN D-~l

130 IF M*- ,f m" THEN D»1

140 IF M*="a" THEN D~~64

150 IF THEN D=64

159 REM ** PLAYER MOVEMENT CONTROL

160 FG^PP+D: IF PEEK (FG) - 1 28 THEN D=0
170 IF PEEK (FG) =109 THEN SF-SF+10

ISO IF PEEK (FG) =110 THEN SF-SF+10: CALL
62383

190 IF PEEK (FG > = 1 15 THEN 1000
195 IF CH=9B THEN CH= 1 06 : GOTO 200
L 96 CH = 9S

200 IF PEEK <PP+D> =243 GOSUB 760: GOTO 10
0

210 POKE PP, 32: PP=PP+D: POKE FP,CH
220 IF PP=1295 THEN POKE PR, 32: PP=1306:
IF PEEK CPF) = 109 THEN SF=SF+10s GOTO 23

0

225 IF PP= 1 307 THEN POKE PR, 32: PPU296:

IF PEEK (FF> =109 THEN SF-SF+10
230 IF SF >=800 AND PP^1296 OR SF>«0OQ AN
P PP =1306 THEN FR-FR+1: SC-SC+SF: SF=10
; GOSUB 600

239 REM ** MONSTER MOVEMENT

240 CALL 62399, M: IF M<5*50 THEN 369

249 REM ** NOT ENERGIZED

250 PC-115: MM=DM

260 IF FPCFM-S THEN DM=-64: GOTO 300
270 IF PPVPM+S THEN DM=64 : GOTO 300
200 IF PPCPM THEN DI1-“1
290 IF PP>PM THEN DM=1
300 IF PEEK (DM+PM) , : 128 THEN 350
310 IF PEEK UiM+PM ) < > 1 2Q THEN DM=MM: GOTO
350

320 IF ABS ton 3=64 THEN DM=SGN £ RND- . 5 > : G
OTO 340

330 IF ABS(DM)^1 THEN DM=SGN fRND- . 3 ) *64
340 MM=DM: GOTO 300

349 REM #* MOVE MONSTER

350 IF PEEK tFM+DM)=CH THEN 1000
360 GOTO 590

369 REM +* ENERGIZED

370 PC-243: IF GGOl THEN MM=DM*-1 : GG'-l
375 MM=DM

380 IF PP-PM-S THEN DM-64: SOTO 420
390 IF PP >PM + 0 THEN DM=-64: GOTO 420
400 IF PP<F'M THEN DM=1
410 IP PP >PM THEN DM=- 1
420 IF PEEK ( DM+PM ) < > 1 2G THEN 450
430 IF PEEK CMM+PM) >120 THEN DM=MM : GOTO
450

440 IF A0S (DM ) =64 THEN DM=SGN fRND- . 5 ) : S
□TO 446

" SmmmmmmmiflmnwS 1 '

" SmSmSSmSSmSmS 11
SmSmSmmmSinSmS "
,r mnimmmSmmmmm 11
° SmSmSmifimSmSitiS 11
"SmSmSSfiVSSfnSmS "
''SfnSitirifllirufijnmSmS "
"SmSSSSmSSSSmS "
" Smfrunfninmmmiiim m S "

445 IF ABB I DM3 =1 THEN DM=SGN (RND- , 5> *64

446 MM=PM: GOTO 420

449 REM ** MOVE MONSTER

450 IF PEEK IPM+DM) =CH GOSUB 750: GOTO 10
0

580 IF PM+DM E 1295 THEN POKE FM,DW: GOTO
590

505 IF PM+DM=1307 THEN POKE PM,DW;PM=l29
5

590 POKE PM,DW: PM=PM+DM: DW=FEEK (PM) : P
OKE PM, PC
595 RETURN

597 REM ** DRAW MAZE ROUTINE

590 REM ** WHEN TYPING IN USE AN INVERSE

599 REM + # SPACE INSTEAD OF EACH S.

600 IP FR > 1 TMEM GOSUB 2300
603 IF FR-5 THEN BOO

605 PUT 31,22, 1,5
610 PRINT TAB (14) ;

620 PRINT TAB U4) i

630 PRINT T AB ( 1 4 ) ; " S mSSSSmSSSSmS "

640 PRINT TAB f 14); "SmSmmmfnfnmimSmS"

650 PRINT TABU 4) ;

660 PRINT TAB ( 14) :

670 PRINT TAB (14) ;

675 PRINT TAB (14) I
600 PRINT TAB ( 14) 1
685 PRINT TAB (143 ;

690 PRINT TAB ( 14) j
693 PRINT TAB ( 14) ;

695 PRINT TABU 4);

700 D=0: PP- 1621: PM-1301: DW^120: POKE

PM, 1 15: POKE PP,CH: MK=0

710 FOR T-0 TO 5-FR

720 POKE E (T) ,110

730 NEXT T

735 PUT 22,1,19: PRINT "SCORE"; SC+SF J TAB
(12) ; "FRAME" iFR, "HI-SC0RE"5HS; PRINT "PR
ESS ANY KEY"

736 GET £10, L: IF L-0 THEN 736
740 PUT 22,1,20: PRINT "

RETURN

749 REM ** CATCH MONSTER

750 POKE PM,DW: H=PM+DM: IF DW=109 THEN
SF=SF+1G

755 POKE H, 170: GOTO 770

760 H-PP+D: POKE PP, 32: IP PEEK CH) =109 T
HEN SF=SF+TO
765 POKE H, 170

770 FDR T- 1 TO 75: NEXT T: POKE H, 32
775 SC=SC+100

780 PP-PP+D: PW= 120: PM“1301: MK=MK+1: D

M=64: RETURN

799 REM ** WIN

BOO FOR T=1 TO 200: NEXT T

810 PUT 31,22, 1,14

020 PRINT "YOU HAVE CLEARED ALL THE FRAM
ES"

030 PRINT "YOU SCORED " i SC
040 GOTO 1040

1000 POKE PM, 32: FDR T-136 TD 141: POKE

PP, T: FDR TT=1 TO 70: NEXT TT: NEXT T:

POKE PP, 32: FDR T=1 TO 200: NEXT T

1010 PUT 31,22, 1, 14

1020 PRINT "YOU HAVE BEEN KILLED, 11

1030 PRINT "YOU SCORED U SC+SF

1040 IF SC+SF HS THEN PRINT: PRINT "YOU

GOT THE HIGH SCORE!!": HS=SC+SF

1050 PRINT: PRINT "PLAY AGAIN?": GET £10

>U

1053 GET £10, A*: IF ASC(A«>-0 THEN 1055
1060 IF AS="n" THEN 1070

1065 IF A$="y M THEN 20

1066 GOTD 1055

1070 RUT 31,22,1,14: PRINT" GOOD-

BYE"

1080 CLOSE £10: END

Brain-Man

A version of the popular Pacman game is
provided by Rory Stafford. The maze has
been simplified, and only one monster is
used, but the game is very fast.

The program uses character set 3. Line 15
sets it with the statement

PUT 31,23,72

The Call at line 180 resets the system clock
to zero if a power pill is eaten, and line 240
reads the value of the clock so the monster
runs away during the following five
seconds. This line could be changed to
make the game easier to play. Lines 610 to
695 prim the maze. The character listed as S
should be typed as an inverse space, ASCII
128, by pressing Graphics- = •

1999 REM ** INSTRUCTIONS

2000 PUT 31

20 1 0 PRINT " NEW BRAIN PAC-MAN"

2020 PRINT " BY RORY STAFFORD "

2030 PRINT

2040 PRINT "YOU MUST MOVE THROUGH THE MA
ZE EATING"

2050 PRINT "THEM ' nK 0 WHILE AVOIDING THE
MAN-EATING"

2060 PRINT "MONSTER. HE IS REPRESENTED BY
AN 's' WHEN"

2070 PRINT "YOU EAT AN r n r YOU HAVE THE
POWER TO EAT"

2000 PRINT "THE MONSTER FOR A SHORT WHIL
E. H

2100 PRINT "YOUR CHARACTER IS A FDUR-LEG
GED BEING"

2110 PRINT "WHO YOU CONTROL BY THE FCLLD
WING KEYS, "

2120 PRINT: PRINT "N FDR LEFT,"

2130 PRINT "M FOR RIGHT, "

2140 PRINT " Z FOR DOWN."

2150 PRINT "A FOR UP."

2160 PRINT

2170 PRINT "YOU HAVE A CHOICE OF TWO LEV
ELS OF PLAY."

2100 PRINT "2 BEING VERY HECTIC"

2190 PRINT "WHEN YOU HAVE EATEN ALL THE
DOUGHNUTS"

2200 PRINT "YOU MUST GET TO AN EXIT. YOU
THEN GET A"

2201 PRINT "BONUS FOR EVERY MONSTER YOU
CAUGHT. "

2210 PRINT: PRINT "NOW CHOOSE YOUR LEVEL
1/2 "

2220 GET £10,R*t IF R*<> "l" AND R*< ; ,f 2

" GOTO 2220

2230 R - VAL(R*>: RETURN

2299 REM +* CLEAR FRAME BONUS

2300 PUT 31,22,1,16: PRINT "

CB= 1 602

2350 FOR T-CE TO CB+10+MK: POKE T,CH;FOR
TT = 1 TO 70: NEXT IT
2360 IF CH^9G THEN CH=i06: GOTO 2300
2370 CH=9B

2380 POKE T.32: NEXT T

2390 PUT 22 ,1,17: PRINT " BONUS MK * 1 00:
SC=SE+-MK*10G

2400 FOR T= 1 TO 300: NEXT T: RETURN

E 3

140

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

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Meet the fa

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the marriage of reliability and versatility

■■k

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The Minstrel is an exciting new British
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The amazing versatility of the Minstrel is
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One machine —
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Yes! Inside the Minstrel micro-
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CP/M COMPATIBLE MULTI-USER
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TurboDOS is a popular high-performance
multi -processor operating system. Each user
has their own slave processor board
(illustrated above). TurboDOS systems have
been shown to out-perform mini-computers
in the DEC PDP1 1/34 class at a fraction of
the hardware cost

TurboDOS is compatible with CP/M, the
industry standard operating system, which
means you have access to a vast range of
off-the-shelf software.

The next development to TurboDOS on
the Minstrel allows you to connect systems
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Minstrel with two 400Kb floppy drives £1790.

With 1 400Kb drive and 5Mb Winchester £2615.

A sample 2-user

A sample 5-user

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including:

including:

Minstrel

Minstrel

1 800Kb floppy

1 800Kb floppy

1 5Mb Winchester

1 2 0 Mb Winchester

2 slave processor

5 slave processor cards

cards

5KDS7362 VDUs|iJlus)

2 KDS7362 VDU's

1 Epson printer

(lllus)

I Epson printer

1 OKI 84 printer

CjtiV-f

£5420

£9850

TurboDOS is a registered Trade Mark of Software 2000, Inc

BRAND FROM THE USA

Price for case specifically designed for
AtarifCommodore Vic 20 or Vic 64 is
£28-95 inc VAT & carnage.

Contact us NOW for full information and
of this exciting new product.

TRADE ENQUIRIES INVITED

PRINTER

Min order Price ea.

wabashCsK

Prices/ Box 10

£1.25

£3.95

£5.40

£4.99

SS SD 48TPI Mil 16.10 15. 20 14.20
SS DP 48TP1 JVH3 19.00 17.80 16.70
DS DD 48TPI Ml 4 21.20 19.90 18.70

Juki 61 00/Brother HR1 150,000 characters
(Pink Hub)

Juki 6100/Brother HR1 580,000 characters
(Blue Hub)

Centronics 150/Commodore 8023

Epson MX 80

04862

26626

Epson MX 100

3

£12.50

Oki Microline 83A/84

3

£3.49

TEC F 10

3

£2.35

Qume for Sprint 3, 5, 7 mufti strike

3

£2.40

Qume multi strike for Sprint 9, 11

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£3.95

Diablo multi strike for Diablo Hytype 31630

3

£2.95

SS DD 96TPI

M15

24.20 22,80 21.40

DS DD 96TPI

M16

27.50 25.90 24.30

8"

SS SD 26S

F11

16.10 15.20 14.20

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FI 4

27.50 25.90 24.30

Computer Carrying Cases
provide the protection that you need.
Padded with high density foam
to cushion your computer
during transit. Finished in tough,
steel grey Cordura nylon
these cases are available
for most micros
IBM P.C., Apple,

Sinclair and Osborne

FOR THE MICRO ON THE MOVE

Microline 80/Anadex 8000, Sharp, Trend,
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BY PHONE Call us with your credit card number (Access or
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Fill in the coupon and enclose a cheque or postal
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HIDDEN

EXTRAS

DISK DIRECT
FREEPOST
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Quantity

Description &- Part Number

Price

Our prices include V.A.T. and carriage.

Name:- _

Address:-

Daytime telephone no.:-

♦ Circle No. 175

>SHARP

by John Hooper

Hidden lines

Short and Sharp

For too long the Sharps seem to have
existed in the shadow of other
machines. First it was the Pets, Apples
and Tandys; now it is the BBC and
Sinclair machines. But perhaps the
blame lies with us, the owners and
users. Rather than pester the computer
press with queries, articles, hints, tips
and programs we have resigned
ourselves to a second-rate existence in
which we tell each other what
wonderful micros the Sharps are, and
how foolish the rest of the world is not
to realise what it is missing. So now is
your chance — let the contributions
roll.

I have just one plea to make, and that
is for brevity. Each Open File section
will be at most two magazine pages
long. It is very difficult to accept any
contribution of more than three pages
of double-spaced A4 typescript or 120
lines of listing. Material for Open File
should be short and snappy. For tips
and hints listings can be open and easy
to follow, but for games and other
programs where the result is more
important than the ideas and
techniques illustrated they should be as
densely packed as possible.

The null-input
problem

It is perhaps best to employ input
routines using the Get command, and best
of all to do it in machine code. There is still
a place for the humble input, the trouble is
that it is difficult to cope with a null input.
If some careless and heavy- fingered user
presses Return without entering anything
else first, Basic kindly starts a new line
with a question mark and waits for a fresh
input, which makes an awful mess of a
neatly formatted screen.

What is required is something the Input
routine will pick up even if nothing but
Return has been pressed. Moreover, if that
something is unusual and distinctive, then
the rest of the program can cheek for its
existence and take whatever remedial
action may be necessary.

How is this to be done? The first idea
that comes to mind is to Print a special
character immediately after the input
prompt, then cursor left, and then to use
Input to suppress the question mark
and leave the cursor sitting on the
character. For example:

PRINT "PROMPT:- ^(cursor-left)";

:INPUT il1 ’;A$

but unfortunately this does not work; the
Input routine is not fooled.

in MOST MICROS, including the MZ-80
series, each line is stored in memory in a
four-part format. It begins wih a link
identifying the next line’s start, and is
followed by the line number, the content
of the line itself and the end-of-Iine
marker, which is ODhex for the Sharps.

For the Sharp PC- 1500 hand-held
computer the format is slightly different.
Each line starts with the line number,
which occupies two bytes, followed by a
single-bye relative link giving the length of
the line’s content, including the end-of-
line marker. Then there is the line content
and the end-oMine marker itself.

During editing the relative link tells the
editor how many of the next few bytes
belong to the current line, and should be
prepared for display. During operation it
tells the interpreter where to jump to find
the next line when executing a Goto or
Gosub if the current line has the wrong
label or line number.

What is of interest about this is that the
editor and interpreter work in rather
different ways when actually reading a
line. The interpreter scans and executes
each line up to the end-oMine marker,
Gotos, and so on excepted, and then auto-
matically carries on, assuming the next
byte is the start of the next line.

The next idea involves Printing a new
line of cursor-rights over the input
prompt, ending up on the character:

PRINT "PROMPT:- *":PR!NT l, (cursor-up;

nine cursor-rights) 57 ;: INPUT " 15 ;A$

which does work, but is rather laborious in
a genera! input routine designed to handle
any input anywhere on the screen. And
maybe the user will not want confusing
characters at the start of each input field.

But these two objections can be dealt
with. First, the X,Y co-ordinates of the
position on the screen of the beginning of
the input field can be found by Peeking
4465 and 4466 just before the Input state-
ment. The top line and the left -most
column are zero. These co-ordinates
enable the special character to be Printed
— or, preferabley, Poked — into that
position. Rather oddly the character with

The editor, however, displays the line
up to the end-of-line marker, beyond
which the cursor cannot be moved, and
uses the link to find the start of the sub-
sequent line. One or more lines can be
hidden from the editor, and thus from
anyone Listing the program, even though
it will run quite happily. This can be
arranged by the simple expedient of
Poking into memory a value for the
previous line’s link that points not to the
line’s own end-of-line marker but to that
of the line to be hidden.

The listing shows a simple look-at-
memory program before it has been
nobbled in this way* Assuming no other
program is in memory, line 10 starts at
locations 16581/2 with the high/low byte
of the line number, and 16583 holds 31,
the number of bytes up to and including
the end-o f-Iine marker, which is at 16614.
Line 15 begins at 16615, and 16617 holds
15, the number of bytes up to its end-of-
line marker at 16632. The total number of
bytes from the line 10 link at 16583 up
to the line 15 end-ofdine marker at
16632 is 49. If 49 is Poked into 15583,
line 15 apparently disappears. If some
linscruplous person deletes line 10, then
line 15 actually disappears and the
program does not run properly any more.

the display code 240, which appears to be a
space, is not a space at all so far as the
input routine is concerned. Instead, it is
ASCII character 197 — the left-most line
character with the display code 113. So, if
it is Poked into place at the start of the
input field, and not overwritten by any key-
press, it is picked up as the input. The
form is:

PRINT "PROMPT:- ";:FOKE
53248 4- PEEK(4465} + 40*PEEK(4466),
240:INPUT ‘ [t1 ;A$

where 53248 is the start of the screen
memory. This provides both a user-
invisible first line of defence against the
careless key presser and the means, via
a check for the input having the ASCII
Code 197, to initiate remedial action. Do
not forget to Poke 10167,1 to remove the
Peek protect . E9

'Took at-memory ,s program.

103 REM MVF'RQG <C
> FRED BLDGSS
1933

1 5 : MS= 1 685 1 : Lift I T
s TEXT

2 0 : F 0 R H-0T G 1 01 0 0
: ML=MS+R3 F'=

F'EEK ML

303 PR I NT PS" ";M
Ls" " S CHRt P;
" ";s CURSOR 0

40: NEXT H
503 PRINT 11 THE END
" 3 END

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

145

>TANDY

by John Welisman

Graph plotter

1 ' TH is 19 JONG'RFF/QOi V4 STARTED
17.12.81 AS A NOBILE GRAPH, I.E, TO
SHOW graph of unlimited numbers of

DATA

4

DATAl „ 2, 0, 4, 3, 6, 6. 3, 12. 15, IS, 23, 20, 19, '2
0, 21. 22 ( 23, 26. 28, 30, 35, 36, 37, 37, 37. 36, 3
5. 34. 32, 30, 26, 27,26, 25, 24, 23, 2.1 , ,19, .7,1
5, 14, 14, 15, 16, ■ 7, 19,21 24, 27, 31. 35, 40,4

DSm43. 43,42
T 39, 36, 38, 37
, 33 . 33, 32. 51
,44,43, 42, 40
&

DATA41, 42, 41
, 37, 37,36, 35
,29, 29, 20. 27,
, 22, 23, 23, 24
7

DA7A24, 23, 22
, IL. I 1 T lO, 10,
, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6
7, 3,9, 10, 11,
11,11,11,12,
i7, 17, :a, ia,

&

DA7FU9, 19, ifl,
, IS, 10, 19, 19
,21,21, 22, 22
, 23, 23, 23, 0

42, 42, 4 i , 4 1 . 41,41, 40, 40, 39
30, 35, 35, 34, 34, 34, 34, 33, 33
30, 31, 32, 33,35.37, 40. 41 , 42
41,39, 40, 41

43, 42, 41 , 40. 39, 39. 30, 37,37
35, 34, 33, 33, 32,32, 3i, 31, 30
26, 25, 25, 24, 23, 22 , 22 , 7:3 , 22
24, 26,25, 26, 24

21, 19, IS. 17, lb 1 15, 14, 13, 12
, ip, 9,9, 9, 9,6,6, 0, 6. 6, 7,7, 7
6, 6, &. a, S, .5, 5, 5. 5, 5. 5. 5, &,

12, 13, 14, 12, 13, l 5 l.

13. 14.15, 16, 16. ; 7. 17. ’,7. 17,
18, 19

10. ifl. 17, <7, t?, 16, 17, 17, 17

20, 20, 20 j 20 , 20, 21,21,21,2

, 22, 2£, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22

10 CL5 SELEFFR 500 : Dl YD i 5001
30

G.R*~GHR*( 7&) J02*-C.- J R^: 1041 f0 3*=9RT+GR*

+9 9* +132* ;

50

B4tsBRt+SR4+GR*+6R* *024 : 05* -G4*+&4**S4 %
"G4*+G4* :

70 ■ *+***.*+++ + _tNE9 50 TO 90 DRAW
"HE OEsRt I DAL AXIS
90

PRINTED, CHE* ; l&U ; :PRlNTe696 . CHR* ( 149
i : ;ARINTEB32, CHAM 149) ; J PR I NT® 768, CHR* 1
137) ; :PRINT£7Q4, Oft* (149) : i PRINT (*040, CH
R${ 149) ; ;PRIN7<I57S,CHR* f 151 i ; ;

UO

PRINTG5i2 t CHR*<Lt9> - ;PRIMTf44B, PRR* ( ,49
> PRINT &3S4, CHR* t 149) ; s PRIhiT«320, ChR* (
1 61 > ; s PRTNT<?256, CHRS (1491 : : ARI NT&1 92 . C -
9* (149) ; SPRINT® 128, CHRi ( 1 57 ) : :

PRINT&&4, CHR* < 149) : : PRI NTEO, CHS* { 1 43 } * I

150 1 4^m)M4444 LINGS 1 30 TO 170
PRINT t HE NUMBERS DN OS RT 1 CAL AND
HORIZONTAL AXES
170

PRlhfT£7£9, n I0” * s PR! NTD577, ‘'2D" ; : Pftl NT&3
65, " 30 11 ; i P R I NT 0 1 29 "40 " ?s

190

PRINTG900, "1D H r -PRINT09O5, -'20" ; ;PRIN7@9

10, "30" i :?RINT69I5, "40 " ; '! PRINTG920; '■SO"
; sPRINTS.925, "60"’ :P9IN7£930, N 70" ; : PRINT
©935, "80" ; ;

210

PRINT ©940, "90" ; : 3RINT&944. “lOQ" : f PRINT©
949. " ■ ID": : PPINT&354, ■■ 120" ; ;

230 ’ + *####***-*** LINES 50 “D 52
PRINT T HE HORIZONTAL AX IS

250 PR I IMT©9 6 1 , 03* * 05* +S5* + G 3* :

270 READ D<X>;.^ D(X)=0 THEN 290 ELSE
DiX>-D(X>+3:X=X+l:G0TD 270’
dfj<>^d(M)+3 - t5 to aet t4e 'dai 1

into the tcin'ecrt uusition on trie crash
290 X=0 s Z“0

310 27 X=120 THEN X 1-X 1 -t- 1 1 GOTO 370
330 SET a, 151 -DtZ) ) >

350 X-X+i ! Z=Z+1 : IF D<2>«0 THEN 510
ELSE 310

370 I*=INKEY*:1F I*= IH " THEN 370;

390 X=0

430 RESET tX, Si-D ( 2-128) ) - IF D(Z>=0
^HEN 530 ELSE SET TX, 5l~D( £) > ; 2=2 + 1
470 X^X+;;3F X) 127 THEN 490 ELSE 430
490 XI =X 1*1 i 60 TO 370
530 Z=Z-!tEDR A=X— J TQ
127; RESET (ft, 5 3-D ( Z -126)7 =2=3+1 = NEXT
350 FDR X=I TO 4: FOR Y=1 TO 1 00
570 PR2NT&31, "End" ;

590 NEXT Y

610 PRINTS31, STRING* <5, 32> j iftlEXT X
030 PR I NT ©31, “End”;

650 GOTO 650

60023 CLQSEsOLS i PRINTS470, "G GOD 8
V 3 "J SAYS » JGNGRAF / 001; 1' SEND

an almost unlimited number of points
can be plotted as a simple line graph using
this program. The data can be filed on
either tape or disc or in Data program lines,
and the number of items of data can be
almost unlimited. When the program is run
it first draws the X and Y axes with
appropriate markers followed by the first
128 items of data. When you press the
space bar, the next 128 items of data are
drawn and the previous line is erased*

Successive sections of the graph will thus be
drawn until all the items of data are
exhausted. The end of the data in the
program is Indicated by a zero*

Lines 4 to 8 contain a specimen set of
data and have no other significance. Your
own data is entered here or elsewhere if you
are using Data program lines. The data is
actually read in line 270 as a variable D(X).
If necessary you could insert a file opening
and reading routine*

Code Breaker

Keith Blount of Northampton has sent in
a program which he calls Code Breaker, It
is a logical puzzle very much after the style
of the well known Mastermind game, Mr
Blount tells us very little about the rules as
instructions are included in the program.
Part of the puzzle is to decide how the rules
work; don't be put off, just use your head
to work it out. (JJ

1 ♦***«■******■. .CODE BREAKER BY
BLOUNT 15/0S/S3

2 -***#*... INITIALIZE

3

CLS = ClGHRI 00 = RANDOM; BSFETRA-- tEJE” I
;v^207

4 *

5 '****#***.»**#* ...SET UP SCREEN

6 ’

7

PR N r S" J R I \Q% \ 64 . * 43> : ; “RI NTTAfi (45) " CODE
BREAKER " i PRINTTrb (&t qp'uND
" . : c DRX»0 T 03; PRlMT.bHR* ( 143 3 "

H1 ; s NE XT: 7 R IN 1 ""

RESulT-c^R* ( 20l> "SeiGDT 4
P ■ q i t^ H bPHIN+TAB (427CHR* i’34 ) CKRfc ^53 3 "
"CHR* ( 94) lT^.R* 1 34 ) '"^evut- c | tl; Y '^t'r
6 a*?* NT^Tfl 6 (42) C HR* <343 “ EN T E R '* C HR* < 3 4 i "
ror re&u ;.t " : PH I NT£429, ■■ R“SL"_ -
CCDE"; PR!NTTfl&(4^f "« ^ Do.-reft
NT"' Qti f 4 6 > Vnr rar :

□ iof/' i PR i (42? "Jt ■= Co'/rscl:

ci ci iz " i PR I NTT AB < 40 1 "wrcno

position" iPRINTTAB (42> ", - .* .-one digit

9

ART N t ST R I \ l Gi ( 64 ,. , 43) = PR2 NTa^R I \3* ( £4 tfi
S) ; ! Y=i ^9 : ; FORX- I '*09 # OR T NY eY , X * : Y-- V*64 ;
NextsFDRY«0T042s S£T CO, Y> i - 27, y> - ‘FV
<36 f 53" (80, Y)

10 *

' - T *** + .. . SELECT 4 RA*«DO*i VOS.
4.3

>-■)), 1) E NEXT

14 J

1 5 ' **■ + *, * . SET VARS. “OR HA IN RDUTl^E

16 1 .

i? -0RX*0TD3f£(X) =F(X) iDTX-I* 11

" i U < X > ^v ; V=V+2 ; NEXT ; 2- 0 = V--V+4
1 0 1

19 SEAN' KEYS AND FLASH CURSOR

20 *

21

A= INKEY* : JFA-" " :Y«Y+ 1 i T F Y {&*->{ . ZL3EPR

JN-atKZ), D f 2 > :

22

1 C A- M " .A-1NKEV*; Y = Y -1 ; TrY {3gTHEN2;';“LSE'’-
R INTDU ( 2 J , CKHti 140) ;

24 ' **** * , . SET 3RQMRT message AND
TEST FDR "ENTER"

25 *

26 Y*O: B DRX=OT03s Y«Y- fD < X i ="

"> sfeT;IFY=0:PRINifea42, "Pres*

" - < 34 i " F E R " C ~ =)* f 3-4 ) " jf. ‘1 & t hi r -.

rc unc

dEfCcdeci" ; ; I^A-THR’* < 13) GGSUB44 ; GDTD35

27 1

NEXT ; FDR»0’Q3; r < X > -s 71 GH ■'* <STBl ( < RiVD C 10 28 1 * - + + * . , . TEST FOR AND ACT ION INPUT

29 4

30

I"A*“ “ r v:>:Ei.SFi=A5C<A)^9A^0Z= C'iGOBUB
44 s Z-2 + 1 ELS2 T - ASC < fll *flflNDZ> =; 'h£.\0OSUB4
4sZ = Z-1ELSE : FA < "0”0RA) "9"' r HEN21EL5ED ( 1 1
NT®U < 7 i . A : : : "Z = < 2THEN 2 + :

31 GDT02 1

32 f

33 dslods and test =ut sucsss
QR FAILURE

34 1

- = " " :~CRX = 0TD3 l IFD iX > =*= c x } THEMF= t +" *

" ;DOO = " ":E<X>-"'‘

36

NEXTXi" 0 RY * 0 T 02 : r ORX - 0T03 * I-D( Y ) ( X ) ^

£ ";D ( /)=’* ";ErX )=""■

37 MEX'Xi VEXTYl PRIM+&V, LEFT*(F + », , .

V^V+52 s PRI NT6S42 . S^Rl NG* ( 4 tJ , 32 > *
■7 = ^*1 - I FT ID* tf%. 7, 1 THEN41 ELSE TFT-

9 HU-43ELSG17

38 ’

39 DISPLAY SUCE3S DR FAILURE

- W Ml- TO RES “A FT 6A^-E

40 '

4_ PRlNTt&34, YOU WIN WEt_L DONE

^++ *■ ^ra» any Key to ggain

42 NKEY* t I FA- " m ThEn42ELBE 1

43 PR I NT &S3 4, " " He c*j de "F(0>"

<! F tl i ,J "F(2)" "F (3> " (Pres^ ^viy

key to restart ;GOT 047

44 Pfl’NTfiU < l > , & [ Z ) ! * RETURN

146

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

MICROLINE

Microline S2A and 33A

High quality and performance as well as an
altractive price are key Eealures of these printers
Built on a moulded aluminium plate and driven by
2 motors.

These printers can work almost without limitation, as
the printhead's design allows for over 200 million
characters to be printed. The short line logic seeking
printing speed is rated at 120 cps. The carriage
widlh allows for the printing of 80 characteres
(model 8 2 A) and 136 characters (model 8 3 A).

Character sets lor several languages and graphics
printing are standard features of these printers as
well as the processing of various paper iypes.

The interfaces provided allow for parallel or serial
data transfer - buffered or unbuffered - from most
popular desktop computers and widely-used PCs,

MICRO! INE - more than

ISO, 000 printers In Europe In use.

V OKi ELECTRIC EUROPE GmbH
-M , m m Emanuel -Leulie-Slr. 8 ■ D-4000 Dusseldorf 11
Teleton 02 11/59 20 31 - Telex & 587 218

1

1

I

1

UK, X-DalaLid

F-705/751 Deal Avenue
Trading Estate, Slough
Berkshire SLl 4 EH

Tel. : 0044-753-72331

Tlx: 051-847728

COUPON

Please send me/us more inter mat ion \o

□ MICROLINE 82 A

□ MICROLINE 83 A

□ The whole M3CROLINE program

3 |

M

1

Name:

1

Street:

1

Ciiy :

i

Phone:

t

• Circle No. 176

Ultra-fast BeeBASE-

A machine code
database in EPROM
(for the BBC Micro)
for £45.94*

GCC (Cambridge) Limited

66 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB2 4BG

Telephone: Cambridge (0223) 835330

• Up to 25 user-defined fields

# Up to 250 characters in each field

# IVlore than 16K of RAM available for storage (unlimited
capacity when used with disk or tape).

Extremely fast SEARCH, EDIT, and SORT facilities.

• SEARCH commands include:

FIND and EXCLUDE - can be used on up to fen
consecutive searches. Enables data to be extracted
which meets ALL of the given FIND and EXCLUDE
commands. Provides extremely selective data
extraction.

• Extracted data can be SORTed on any field.

# EDIT enables records to be deleted or amended
(shortened or lengthened).

• An ASCI! file of extracted and sorted data can output to
disk or tape for storage or further editing by a word
processing package (such as Wordwise).

# Includes demonstration cassette which also contains a
selective printing program.

Order today - Access and Visa welcomed.

'(Price includes VAT p&p £1 )

Trade and local authority enquiries welcome.

Price ctHiecl at time of going to press.

• Circle No. 203

THE PROFESSIONAL
DATABASE

For:

CP/M-80
MS DOS
PC DOS2
PCOS

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• EASY TO USE

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QUO OS 01 - 253-3998

TELEX

261729

jVSTIEIiVflEi ELTO

5 CHARTERHOUSE BLDGS,

27A GOSWELL ROAD, LONDON EC1 JVI 7 AN

148

• Circle No. 147

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

6H

P86t Ajeruqej ONIind^OO IVOliOVUd

(B%&d iXBU UO pBmjiUOD)

- X * X NBHX OS > m idd dl
.. ini yd = x ay iA : t awiH
NafflBa
££ ensos

N3H1 091 - (bS£9T - > NBBd dl
X t± XD

*< lf INiad =t ay±H *x ayiA
,. inlay :xo ayiA m auiH
6

9 NBWX OAT < > 11 + U - X)

* Z'Q >NU^S * 9T + E ( T - X)

* 2*0 > Nd35 O-NU 09 1 < > £

I + (T - X> * £ *0 >Nd3S * 9
l + f(I - X> * Z f O >Nd3S dl
1 + X = X

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{continued from previous page)

116

IF

PDL <11

> 235 THEN X * X

+ 1

117

HTAB

1: VTAB

OX: PRINT “ "

118

IF

SCRN< 0,

2 * it “ 1H + 1

6 ■*

SCRNC 0

,2 * <X - 11 + 1

> <

> 160 AND SCRN ( 0,2 *

ix -

11) + 16 * SCRN < 0,2 *

fX -
9

1 > * 11

< > 190 THEN 6

l 19

VTAB

X: HTAB

J: PRINT “>“

120

OX -

X

121

IF

PEEK < -

I 62071 > 127 THEN

GOSUB 55

L 22

RETURN

123

REM

124

REM

#*##

125

REM

•

HGDT

126

REM

***

127

REM

**•

120

REM

**#» *

UT

129

REM

* •

130

REM

* #

131

REM

Low-resolution
screen formatter

Basic programs frequently carry screen-
loads of instructions about with them as
embedded code, using up memory while
the program is resident and requiring
effort to code up in the first place, A
screen formatter from John Cayley of
Durham lets you prepare and amend
binary files containing the text in a format
suitable for display when brought into
memory through a corresponding assem-
bler module. The assembler is prepared
through a small Basic program which
Pokes the routine into memory and
BSaves it. Text is saved in a condensed

rather than display format, which saves
some disc space.

When running the formatting program,
Encode. Obj must be on disc. When
running the user program, Decode. Obj
must be in memory; it is put there by
entering:

PRINT CHR$ {A) ; "BLOAD DECODE.OBJ"

When you want to load the screen itself,
pul its name into a string variable and
Gosub to a routine with the following
lines:

PUT = PEEK (110) + 1
POKE 8 , 0 : POKE 9 , PUT
PUT = PUT * 256
PRINT CHR$ (4) : ‘ BLOAD' 1 SCREENS
*\A M PUT A

CALL 768

Screen formatter.

100 REM ** LO-RES SCREEN FORMAT
TER **

110 REM ** AND BINARY SAVER

tt#

120 REM ** BY JOHN CAYLEY, 1983
1 30 REM

MO HOME : A i = It l = 0 sV = AfsH “
AlsD* = CHR* <131 + CHR* (
A)

150 HTAB 3; PRINT 'SCREEN FORMAT
TER & BINARY SAVER"; HTAB 3:
PRINT "

160

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

HTAB 20: VTAB 4: PRINT “BY J
OHN CAYLEY , 1903”

PRINT i PRINT " THIS PRQGRA
M WILL HELP YOU SET UP D

I SPLAY SCREENS AND SAVE THEM
IN AN' 1

PRINT 'ECONOMICAL BINARY FOR
M. THE SCREENS ARE ACCESS I BL
E TO YOUR BASIC PROGRAMS BUT

PRINT “DON'T USE UP VALUABLE
PROGRAH SPACE . “

PRINT : PRINT •* PRESSING r E
SC P ALLOWS THE FOLLOWING
COMMANDS : "

PRINT ; PRINT TAB < 5)“I,J,K
, M - MOVE THE CURSOR"

PRINT TAB t 7>“V,F,N - INVER
SE, FLASH, NORMAL “

PRINT TAB C 9 1 "C, D - CLEAR S

H > 40 THEN H = 40
320 IF A « 77 THEN V = V +■ Als IF
V > 20 THEN V =■ 20
530 IF A = 67 THEN HOME : V = Ai
:H = A 1 : GOTO 460

340 IF A = 68 THEN HTAB Al; PRINT
SRC I 40>

550 IF A — 78 THEN NORMAL :F =

Z : I - It GOSUB eSO
360 IF A = 06 THEN INVERSE :1 =
Al: GOSUB 090

570 IP A = 70 THEN FLASH ; F = A
Is GOSUB 900

580 IF A = 47 THEN POP : GOTO 6
00

590 VTAB V: HTAB H; GOTO 470
600 REM ** SAVE SCREEN **

610 HTAB Ai; VTAB 23: INPUT “OD
YOU WANT TO SAVE THIS SCREEN
7 "ffli; GOSUB 910
620 GOSUB 710: IF NOT Y THEN 6B
0

630 HTAB Al: VTAB 23; INPUT “UND
ER WHAT NAME? "i 5*3 GOSUB 91
0

640 HTAB At: VTAB 23: INPUT "DR I
VE NUMBER? ”|DR*: GOSUB 910
630 HTAB Al: VTAB 22; PRINT D4"B
LOAD ENCODE. OBJ, Dl"

660 POKE 10,76: POKE 11 . Z; POKE
12,3: L = USR <71

670 HTAB Al: VTAB 22: PRINT D* "B
S A VE “ S* " , A* 4000 , L"L “ , D “ DR*

6S0 HTAB Al: VTAB 23: INPUT "DO

CREEN OR

LINE"

YOU

WISH TO CONTINUE?

M 1 A*

PRINT TABE 1I>

lh / - FINISH fr

690

GOSUB 710: IF V THEN

GOTO 1

SAVE"

40

PRINT "

SPACE

BAR - RETURN

700

END

TG TYPING"

710

REM

** YES /NO *+

VTAB 23:

HTAB 1

; INPUT “DO Y

720

IF

LEFT* (A*, All = "

Y “ THEN

□U WANT

TO LOAD

A PREVIOUSLY

V -

At: RETURN

CREATE DSCREEN7 “;A*: GUSUB

Zi RETURN

270

710

HDME : IF Y THEN GOSUB 740

740

7S0

REM ** LOAD SCREEN **

PRINT D* “BL0AD DECODE. OBJ “

280

GOSUB 800

760

PRINT "WHAT IS THE NAME OF T

290

GET A*: A = ASC

< A* 1

HE SCREEN?": PRINT : INPUT "

300

IF ft = 8 THEN

GOSUB 370

> ";s*

310

IF A = 13 THEN

GOSUB 410

770

PRINT : INPUT “DRIVE NUMBER?

320

IF A = 27 THEN

GOSUB 450

" ; DR*

330

IF A < 32 THEN

290

780

PUT = PEEK <110> + Al: POKE

340

350

PRINT A*;

H * H + Ais IF H

> 40 THEN H =

0, Z i POKE 9, PUT: PUT = PUT +
256

360

370

300

390

400

410

420

Al ; v — V + Al : IF V > 20 THEN
H = A 1 : V = 20: HTAB H; VTAB
V

SOTO 290

REM ** BACKSPACE **

PRINT A*J

H = H - All IF H < Al THEN H =
40: V - V - AL: IF V < AL THEN
H - A 1 ; V = Al
HTAB H; VTAB V: RETURN
REM ** RETURNS **

PRINT AS;

790 PRINT Dt'BLQAD "S*" , D J, DRS" , ft
“PUT: CALL 760 : RETURN
SOO REM ** TYPING MODE
810 NORMAL : HTAB 14; VTAB 23: PRINT
“TYPING MODE" j
020 HTAB H: VTAB V
030 IF F THEN FLASH
040 IF l THEN INVERSE
050 RETURN

360 REM ** ENTER ESC MODE **

070 NORMAL : HTAB 14: VTAB 23: PRINT
11 ESC MODE “J: GOTO 020

430

H = Al : V

' - V + All IF V

> 20

i THEN

S0O

VTAB

23: HTAB

2: PRINT H

V = 20

; : VTAB 23: HTAB 35: PRINT

2020

440

HTAB Hs

VTAB Vs RETURN

“

VTAB Vi: HTAB H: RETURN

450

REM #«

> ESC MODE **

460

GOSUB 860

890

VTAB

23; HTAB

2: PRINT "INVE

470

GET A*:

A = ASC f A*1

RSE^j

! ; VTAB V ;

HTAB H: RETURN

480

IF A =

32 THEN GOSUB 000;

RETURN

900

VTAB

23: HTAB

35; PRINT "FLA

2030

SH"; :

; VTAB V;

HTAB H; RETURN

490

IF A *

73 THEN V = V -

Al :

IF

V < Al

THEN V i Al

910

REM

** CLEAR

LOWER LINES *+

500

IF A a

74 THEN H = H -

Al:

IF

2040

H < Al

THEN H = Al

920

HTAB

Al: VTAB

23: PRINT SPCC

510

IF A *

73 THEN H = H +

Al;

IF

79 ) :

RETURN

2050

Basic loader.

100 REM *# PROGRAM TO CREATE AN
D SAVE OBJECT FILES FOR SCRE
EN MAKER *#

110 D* - CHR* (4): HOME

120 GOSUB 1000

130 PRINT D* H BSAVE ENCODE. OBJ, A*
300, LIES “

140 PRINT "SCREEN ENCODER CREATE
D AS "i : INVERSE : PRINT “EN
CODE. OBJ": NORMAL

150 GOSUB 2000

160 PRINT D* “BSftVE DECODE, OBJ f A*
300, LI 12“

170 PRINT : PRINT "SCREEN DECODE
R tAS USED IN PROGRAMS! S
AVED AS INVERSE : PRINT

"DECODE, OBJ"; NORMAL

180 END

1000 REM MACHINE CODE FOR SC

REEN COMPRESSOR **

1010 DATA 1 69 ,0,1 33 ,6,1 33 , 3 , 141
, IBS* 3, 141, 106, 3 , 141, 107,3, 1
69 , 4, 1 33, 7 , 1 69 , 64, 133,9,1 60,

0, 162,0, 177,6, 20 1,1 60 , 200 ,74
,32,145,3,165,7,201,0,200
1020 DATA 5,169,160,76,05,3,177
,6,201, 160,240,8,32, 165,3, 17
7,6,76, 107,3, 169, 153,32, 122,
3,232,240,29, 177,6,201, 160,2
OS, 23 , 32, 145, 3, 165, 7 , 20i , 0
1030 DATA 200,230,133,32,122,3,

1 73, 1 87 , 3, 1 72, 1 06, 3, 32, 242, 2

26 . 96. 1 38 . 32. 1 22. 3. 162. 0. 76,
27,3,32, 122,3,32, 145,3,165,7
, 20 1 , 8, 200, 1 64 , 76, S5,3, 1 40

1040 DATA 1 05 ,3,1 72 , 1 86 ,3, 145,8
, 200,208 ,5,230,9 , 23S, I 87, 3, 1
40, 106,3, 172,165,3, 96,200, 1 9
2,240,200,5,230,7,76, 159,3, 1

92. 120.200.5. 152.24.105.0. 16
0

1050 DATA 96,136,192,255,200,5,
190,7,76, 179,3, 192, 127,200,5
, 152*24 , 233, S, 160,96,0,0,0,0

1060 FOR X = 0 TO 100; READ CD: POKE
768 + X , CD: NEXT
1070 RETURN

REM *# MACHINE CODE TO LQA
D COMPRESSED SCREEN INTO LOW
RES AREA **

DATA 1 69 ,0,1 33 ,6, 141,1 10,3
, 141, 111 ,3, 169,4, 133,7, 162,0
, 160 ,0, 177, 0, 20 1 , 1 53,208, 24,

32, 104,3, 177,8,32, 104,3, 170,

1 69, 1 60 , 32, 64,3, 201 , 255, 240
DATA 16, 202,200,244 , 76 , 1 B,
3,32,64,3,32, 104,3,201,255,2
00,216,169,160,141, 247 ,7,96.

140, 111,3, 172, 110,3, 145,6,20
0, 1 92, 248, 200 ,11, 230, 7, 1 65, 7
,201

DATA 8,200,7,169,255,96,19

2. 120.208.5. 152.24. 105.0. 168
, 140, 110,3, 172, 111,3,96,200,

208. 2. 230. 9. 96. 0. 0.0

FOR X - 0 TO 112; READ CD; POKE
768 + X, CD: NEXT
RETURN

150

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Please send me details of/I enclose cheque/Access/

Barcl&ycard (Wo.)

f op £ and am ordering*

□ Alps disk drive □ Phoenix monitor

□ Epson FX80 □ Other,

Name

Address

Telephone

^Delete where applicable Dellveiy charge £3,00

ALPS DISK DRIVE FOR APPLE IT

Slimline half height disk drive for the Apple E Use with Apple disk
controller card.

Box of disks £ 13. Disk storage boxes ( 35 ) £ 14 ( 80 ) £19

‘Apple Is a registered trade mark of Apple Computers *

PHOENIX 12 PLASTIC MONITOR

24 MHz monitor for the best possible resolution for 80 columns,
80 column card for Apple K Hus £109

EPSON FX 80 PRINTER

160 ops, user definable fonts and graphics,

Parallel interface card £78. 16k buffer £79. 32k buffer £109.
Ribbons £4

C/WP Computers
Willow House Willow Place
London SW1P 1JH
Telephone 01-838 9000

•Circle No. 177

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

• Circle No. 178

151

£79

inc VAT

address

"WHY BUY ANY
OTHER DATA-BASE
PROGRAM WHEN
YOU HAVE
CODEWRITER?"

- recent satisfied user.

Forget about the expense of hiring a professional
programmer or the restrictions of 'off-the-shelf'
programs. Become your own program designer pro-
ducing microsoftware tosuityour specific requirements.
Codewriter enables you to do this, you type commands
in your own everyday language, just as you would
write them on paper , , . it's as simple as ABC!

When you've completed your design. Codewriter
will write the program code and store it on your own
disk whilst you sit back and watch. At anytime, you
can of course modify the programs you've designed.

Your programs may include data bases printed reports,
calculations and comparisons between fields of data,
development of menus, forms, letters, memos,
cheques, invoices, statements, mailing labels ... the
possibilities for design are endless. Codewriter
operates with most popular micros and will be
demonstrated fully at your local dealer.

— — — — — — — —

For details on Codewriter, complete and return the coupon to;

DYNATECH MICROSOFTWARE LTD.

Rue du Commerce, Rouet, St. Peter Port,
Guernsey, Channel Islands.

Telephone 0481 26081 Telex 4191130

name

>ATARI

by Jack Schofield

A commodore listing for a disc file restore
on page 163 of the September issue inspired
H M Hoffman to devise a way of restoring
deleted Atari disc files. Mr Hoffman says if
a file is deleted from DOS 2 or Basic, the
first byte in the directory entry is set to SSO
or 128 decimal. Whenever the directory is
searched, any entry associated with this flag
value is ignored. However, after booting
DOS, it is possible to issue a command
from Basic so that Files will no longer be
checked for a deleted status. The command
is

POKE 3926,234:PGKE 3927,234
Listing the disc directory will then reveal
the deleted files so that they can be loaded
and run. Undeleted files should be loaded
and then saved with a different file name so
that they can be read normally under DOS,

Disc saver

Obviously, if you write to a disc after
deleting a file, the deleted file may be
overwritten and thus be unrecoverable. The
command Poke 3926,48 ; Poke 3927,27
restores DOS to normal.

Painter

At last here’s an Atari game. Painter,
written by Chris Simon of Clwyd, North
Wales, requires 16K and a joystick. Use the
joystick to move the painter to cover all the
lines, while avoiding the chaser. Pressing
the Fire button creates a gap the chaser
cannot jump.

Three complete mazes are included, but
you can easily add your own. For an
interesting variation, add the line
190 GOTO 100

so that whenever the painter stops moving
the chaser will start, and vice versa, it
speeds the game up, arid is not as easy at it
sounds. Another enhancement would be to
add a routine to fill boxes with colour when
they are completed.

Even if you do not type in the whole
program it is worth experimenting with the
sound subroutine, which is done with
Pokes instead of sound statements. CO

Hi GCSUD 9000

20 GOSVB MA2EtlO00;lF SCORE THEN 80
25 REM Titles

50 FOR A=1 TO 5: POSITION 0*0:7 TITLE* ( 1 * 39) : FpR
1*1 TO 100 1 SOUND 0,100, 10, 8: NEXT f:S0UNtJ 0,0, 0,0
iPOKE 77,0

40 POSITION 0,0:? DL*:FDR I=! TO 100: NEXT I: NEXT
A

50 FOR 1=39 TO L EN I TITLE* ); POSITION 0,0i7 TITLE*
(1-30* I ) : SOUND 0*0,5, ISrFDR A=I TO 15
60 IF STRIG (0) =0 THEN POP :PDP :GOTO 00
70 NEXT A: SOUND 0,0,0, O: NEXT I: GOTO 30
00 GQSOB ftAZEt 1000: FOR ft=0 TO 9; FOR I = 100-0*5 TO
60-0*5 STEP -4: SOUND 0, I, 10, BsNEXT I: NEXT A: SOU
ND 0,0, 0,0

90 G05UB 400: POKE 77,0: ftB=D: ST=RB

99 REM Main loop

100 5=S+ l : IF 5=50 THEN POKE 55766,1
UO IF 5=80 THEN 5=0: POKE 53766,49

114 REM Move Painter

115 IF STRIGI0) =0 THEN PF=PP*RB; RB=1

120 IF ST (STICK CO)J THEN A=5TI5TICK (0) ) s IF PEEK!

F+A) THEN 5T=A

125 IF ST=0 THEN 200

130 A=F+5T : IF PEEK (A) =0 OR PEEK(A)=I2G OR A>MAX
OR A<HIN THEN 200

140 POKE P*PP:IF PF< 1 28 THEN SCORE=SC0R£+I:PQKE
P.PP+ 128 ^POSITION 9,0:7 SCORE: C0UNT=C0UNT+ 1 : IF C
DUNT=DONE THEN 600

150 P=A;PP=FEEK1F) : IF PP=CH THEN 500
160 POKE P*PA

199 REM Move Chaser

200 IF CH=3 THEN CH=2:G0T0 220
210 CH=3

220 A=PC:IF A>127 THEN A=A-12S

230 IF A=0 THEN I N=- IN; GOTO 290

240 If A<8 THEN B= (ABSI IN) =1 ) +2* IADS IIN> =40> : IN=

A (A- 3, 0) ;0OTD 290

250 IF A< 10 OR A>13 THEN 290

260 ON A- 9 SOTO 800,850,900,950

290 B=C+IN:IF PEEK(BI=PA THEN POKE C, PC: GOTO 500

300 POKE C, PC : PC=PEEK 1 BJ : C=B : POKE C,CH;GOTO 100

399 REM Sound subroutine

400 SOUND 0*0, 0,0; POKE 5376B, 24 :P0KE 53761, 1 68 ;P
ONE 53763* 1 68: POKE 53765, 1 68: POKE 53767,163

4I0 POKE 53760, 240; POKE 53764* 252; POKE 53762,20:
POKE 33766,49:8=0; RETURN

499 REM Cra-5h

500 FOR 1=0 TO 3: SOUND I *0,0,0: NEXT I
510 POKE P-1,71; POKE P, 14: POKE P+1,70

520 FOR 1=14 TO 0 STEF -0.1; SOUND 0, 100, 8* I : POKE
712* 1*18; NEXT Is SOUND 0,0,O*0:PQKE 712,0
530 L I VES=L 1 9ES- 1 : IF LIVES THEN 00
540 L I VE5=3:MA7E=1; FRAME-1: IF HIGH? SCORE THEN 58
0

550 HIGH=5C0RE: POSIT ION O.O;^ 8L*

560 POSITION 12,0:? H, A NEW HIGH SCORE": FOR 1=255
TO 0 STEP -2,5: SOUND 0,1,8,10
563 TF I/20=INTtI/2O) THEN POSITION 0,0:^ PL*:GO
TO 570

567 IF 1 7 1 0= I NT f I / 10} THEN POSITION 12,0:^ "A NE
W HIGH SCORE"

570 NEXT I : BOUND 0,0,0, O

500 POSITION 0,0:? BLt; SC0RE=0: GOTO 20

599 REM Frame complete

600 FOR I=0 TO 3:50UND I *0,0,0: NEXT I

610 FOR A=I TO 10: FOR 1=100 TO 60 STEP -5: SOUND
0, 1*10*0; POKE 7 1 ] , I ;NEXT l : NEXT A: POKE 7U*134;S
OUND O, 0,0,0

620 n AZE=MAZE+ t MAZ E< 3 } : FR AME=FR AME+ 1 ; SCORE=SDORE
+100; GOTO 80

799 REM Routines for choosing new eha

ser direction when there is a choi

ci? of two

000 ST(O)=IN;ST<l>=-40: IF 1N=40 THEN ST(0)=1;ST(
1>=-1

010 IN=ST HNT (RND (0) *23! ;80T0 290

650 ST(0)=IN:ST (11=40; IF IN=-40 THEN 5TfO)=i:ST(

n=“i

06O 1N=ST UNt SRND (01*2) ) ; EGTO 290

900 5Ti0)=IN:ST(n = i; IF IN=-I THEN ST (0) =40: ST U

) =-40

910 IN=ST TINT fRND (0) *2) ) t GOTO 290

950 ST (OJ=lNsET fl)=-li IF IN=1 THEN ST(0M40:STU

) =-40

960 IN=ST UNT ( RND (0) *2) ) : GOTO 290
999 REM Maze 41

Frame : 3 High : H ;POSITIO

*0;? "Score :

N 9,0; 7 SCORE
3010 POSITION 23,0:? FRAME: POSITION 34,0:? HIGH
3020 ? *m nnm
3030 ? ■ i t i r

3040 ?■ * t ( ( r

3050 ? Huu+i+MHMinnn+iumr
3060 ? M < t
3070 7 " t ( <

3030 ? ’&)>>> - nz

1000 POKE 559 1 0:? CHR*U25
,0:? "Score : Frame :
N 9*0i^ SCORE

10I0 POSITION 34,0:7 HIGH:?

1020 ?

1030 ? "

1040 ? "

loso ? -*mmn

1060 ? "<

1070 ? " i
1080 ? M
1090 7 "1
1100 ?

1110 ?

1120 7 "i
1130 ? -(

1140 7 J, <

1150 7 "t
1160 7 "(

*1)1)))) ) 7.

POKE 82, 6; POSIT ION |
I High : ":F05ITIO

IIJIIHIT

I"

("

r

<“

j'umn-"

r

<"

r

r

n > n > n ■ 11

3090 ?
3100 7
3110 ?
3120 1
3130 7
3140 ?
3150 7
3160 7
3170 ? "<
3180 ?
3190 ?
3200 7
3210 ?
3220 7
3230 ?
3240 7

*)) 3 '

<

i

r

<"

1 170 -5 ^mmi-
1100 ? "

1190 ? "

1200 ? " wimur -

1210 D0NE= 1 4 4 ; p= RAM+620 : C=R AM+24 7 : PP=9 ; PC=9 : COUN
T=0: POKE P* PA i POKE C,EH:IN=1:IF RNO(O) >0,5 THEN
1N=-IN

1220 POSITION E . I :F0R 1=1 TO LIVES:^ ;:NEXT

I: REM ! in inverse video
1230 POKE 559* 74; RETURN

1999 REM Ha*e ft?

2000 POKE 559* Os'? CHR*t 125) : POKE 8?. 8: POSITION 1

,0i? "Score : Frame : 2 High : "iPOSITIO

N 9,0;? SCORE

2O10 POSITION 34,0:7 HIGH

2020 ?
2030 7
2040 ?
205O ?
2060 ?
2070 ?
2O80 ?
2090 ?
2100 7
2110 ?
2120 ?
2130 7
2140 7
2150 7
2160 7
2170 7
2180 ?
2190 ?

■ innin?.”

* ( (“

11 ( t "

w < r

“ snx *n ,h

" ( r

" fuitmur
( r

'*)))))- ,)))!)%“

“( ( i r

*!))))'"
( ( M

,!))))))) )- rt

i <"

*n- , )> 2 "

( ( ( £ rt

f &) +)!))!+)" r

"*<)))))

■'*) )“

2200 ? "I (

2210 7
2220 7
2230 7

( «<) + >)'

1 (

{ t

2240 ? "^>)))'

( , ) ) X"

i t r

iu)+r r

< r

( r

2250 DONE- 1 60 : P=RAM+S39: C=RAM+56 s PP=9 : PC=9: COUNT
=0: IN=1 POKE P, PA; POKE C*CH: IF RND (0) >0.5 THEN I
N=- IN

2260 POSITION 1*1: FOR 1=1 TO LIVES:? " ! " ; : NEXT
[;REH \ in inverse video
2270 POKE 559, 34: RETURN

2999 REM Mate S3

3000 POKE 559,0:7 CHR* ( 125) : POKE 82, 6: POSITION I

&))+))"

(

!

I

"*) )))!)+) ))))+*+))!))+)*)) I )X"
i < i < r

“( ( t < t ("

"St U7. ,) + )))*)*)))+)- *))'"

H 1!( i ( i"

“*!)*))!' su ))i *)>j f itininy,'*
m ii c p

"t c ( <“

■wiHmnmminimmiP")

3250 DONE =256 ; P=RAM+6 1 7; C=RAM+50; PP=9; PC=9; COUNT
=0: | N= 1 ; POKE P, PA: POKE C, CH: IF RND <0) >0,5 THEN 1
N=-1N

3260 POSITION 1,1: FOR 1=1 TO LIVES;? "! ;NEXT
I: REM “ in inverse video
3270 POKE 559, 34: RETURN

8999 REM Initialise

9000 DIM STI 15) , TITLE* 1 160) , BL*(39> ,-A (4 , 2) ;POKE
106, PEEK U 06) -5; GRAPHICS 0:P0KE 752*1

9010 CHBAS£= IPEEK U06> +1 > *256; POSITION 2,0:7 "PI
es^e wait a moment. ";IF PEEK (I6K 128 THEN 9

020

9015 POKE 16, PEEK 1 16) -128; POKE 53774* PEEK (16) : RE
M Disable BREAK

9020 POKE 708, 184: POKE 709, 12; POKE 710,36: POKE 7
1 1, 134

9030 DL=PEEK 1560) +256 *PEEK (561 ! : FOR I=DL+6 TO DL
+28: POKE I, 4; NEXT I

9040 FOR 1=0 TO 7: POKE CHPASE+ I , 0: NEXT I: FOR 1=1

12 TO 1023: POKE CHBASE + 1 * PEEK 1 5734 4+ 1 > : NE X T T

9050 POKE 756, CHBASE 7256; FOR I=CHBASE+8 TO CHBA5

E+U 1 :READ A:POKE I,A;NEXT I

9060 DATA O, 1-30* 20, 20, 255, 20 r 20* 1 30

9070 DATA 20,20 , 166* 166, 1 54* 154 , 20,20

908D DATA 40, 40,89* BP, 101 , 101 , 40,40

9090 DATA 0,0,0,63*63,60*60,60

9100 DATA 0,0,0,252*252*60*60,60

91 JO DATA 60,60,60* 63,63*0,0, 0

9120 DATA 60,60,60*252*252,0,0,0

9130 DATA 60,60*60*60,60,60,60*60

9140 DATA 0,0,0,255,255,0,0,0

9150 DATA 60*60,60,255*255*0,0*0

9160 DATA 0*0*0,255,255,60,60*60

9170 DATA 60,60*60,63,63,60,60*60

9180 DATA 60,60,60,252,252,60.60*60

9200 RAM=DL +32 ; fl I N=RAH+ 40 : MAX =RAM +960 ; P A= 1 29 ; l>I=

3s SCORE-0: H| EH=SC0RE:L IVE5=3: HAZE= 1 ; FRAME = !

9210 BLt= "

";REM 39 spaces

9220 TITLED" PAINTER

..Program by Chris Simon....

9230 T I TLE* 1LEN I T I TLEI ) + 1 > = l 'Plress trigger to beg

in * . . . TITLE* ILENITITLEti+I )=BL*

9240 FOR 1=5 TO 1 5: READ A: ST < I) =A: NEXT I

9250 DATA 0,0, I ,0,0,0*-! *0,40,-40*0

9260 FOR I=t TO 4: FOR A=1 TO 2: READ B:AII*A)=8:N

EXT A: NEXT I ; RETURN

9270 DATA 40* 1 * 40,-1 , ”40, 1 , -40* -I

152

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Use your BBC Model B as an image analyser with
MicroSight I

Available on BBC, Apple, Commodore, Research
Machine, Sirius, etc, Includes Camera cables, interface,
software and documentation*

£495,00 + VAT

MicroScale.

Image processing software to calculate area and
perimeter of objects within a specified window also
to dimension features. Disk and printer dumps of
binary and grey scale data.

£295.00 + VAT

MicroEye Vision Interface,

256 x 256 pixel resolution with 255 grey levels per
pixel comes complete with software and document-
ation. Can be used for video tape digitising Satallite
picture analysis etc. Available for BBC, Apple,
Commodore, Research Machine, Sirius etc.

£295.00 + VAT

DiGiTHURS'

Oigithurst Ltd.

Leaden Hill Orwoi Royston
Herts SG8 5QH

Tef 10223) 208926

* Circle No. 179

QUALITY SVi" FLOPPY DISKS

lbke our choice of three top quality brands - BASF, Wabash or
Xidex. C/WP has tested most available disks and offers these as the
best value for money, combining reliability, with low prices.

Single-sided, single-density (100k)
Single-sided, double-density (200k)
Double-sided, double-density (400k)
Double-sided, quad-density (800k)

£13

£17

£38

£29

Includes VAT per box of 10.

FLOPPY DISKS STORAGE BOXES

A neat box with transparent lockable cover to hold np to 35
disks. With the top off the disks are presented as in a card
index, A larger version will hold up to 80 disks .

Small size

£14 Large size £19

inc VAT

LISTING PAPER

2000 sheets fanfold listing paper 9 inch or 14 inch.

£12

me

VAT

SELF ADHESIVE LABELS

1, 2 or 3 across. Per thousand. £8 inc VAT

C/WP Computers
Willow House Willow Place
London SW1P1JH
Telephone 01- 828 9000

Hease send me details of/I enclose cheque/Access/
Barclaycard(No.)_

_J0F iL

□ Floppy Disks (size)

□ Storage Boxes (size)-

Name

Address

_and am ordering*

J3 Listing Paper/Labels

. □ Ribbons.

^Delete where applicable

.Telephone.

Delivery charge £3.00

• Circle No. 180

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

153

1984 On Course
For Record Computer Sales

There can be few - if any - comparable Sponsored by ‘Practical Computing' and 'Your

exhibitions capable of generating such intense public Computer’ and organised by Reed Exhibitions, the

interest as The Computer Fair series. 1984 London Computer Fair will again be backed by a

As expected, the 1983 Computer Fair, held at Earls massive publicity campaign using radio, television

Court, has consolidated its position as the major and press media. Advance stand reservations are

showcase for home and small business computers, to understandably already well up on 1983, If you want
the extent that it became necessary for the original to ensure that you do not miss out on a preferential
exhibition area to be doubled to a record 2,300 square site, you really must fill in the coupon below NOW,

metres. And all the signs are emerging to support our and return to the

belief that 1 984 will see further growth in an Exhibitions Manager, The Computer Fair,

exhibition which provides an unrivalled opportunity Reed Exhibitions, Surrey House, Throwley Way,

for promoting personal computer systems of all kinds. Sutton, Surrey. SM 1 4GQ

I am interested in exhibiting at The Computer Fair, Earls Court.
London, June 14-17 1984.

Please send full information to

Name

Position in Company

Company

Address

Telephone No.. Telex

THE

(omputer

I " L

Persona! computers
Home computing
Small business systems

London. June 14-17 1984

SINCLAIR

by John Wellsman

a pair of programs from Bill Leigh of
Varese, Italy make up a useful program-
development utility for I6K and 48K
Spectrums, Scrubber itself consists of two
lines only; the Rem statement in the second
line reserves space for the machine-code
program of which the hex listing is found in
the consecutive Data statements of the
second program, Makescrub.

Makescrub is more or less a hex loader
written to construct Scrubber. The Rems
in lines with numbers ending in 9 are
essentially cosmetic and may be omitted.
Makescrub loads hex -coded bytes in the
Data statements of lines 109 to 170. It also
contains some elementary partial trapping
of keying errors in lines 500 to 550. It
executes Scrubber after hex loading,
thereby simply generating Scrubber itself.
If the two lines that compose the Scrubber
are allocated consecutive line numbers
anywhere in a Basic program, then when
the program control reaches these lines all
previous lines of the program (but nothing
in the variables area) are eliminated, while
the variable area remains intact.

Scrubber can be used to save space by
eliminating part of a program once it has
done its work — setting up a screen, for
example, the space saved can be used for
data input to, or generated by, the rest of
the program.

It can also be used when you have a large
dummy main program that has been used
to set up and test a subroutine. These all
have to be eliminated before the subroutine
is available for use. Scrubber can also be
used to Scrub hex loaders, of course.

The programs also demonstrate how, by
Peeking the system variable NxtLin, you
can get away from the restrictions inherent
in the normal practice of putting machine
code into Rem statements at the top of the
program listing. Apart from the
inflexibility of the normal approach, a
listing of such a program cannot
conveniently include header lines such as 1
have given Makescrub.

I find myself making good use of
Scrubber, merging it into longer programs,
moving it about by changing the line
numbers, and then Scrubbing unwanted
program lines.

Scrubber

Scrubber.

1 LET scrub=l 5+256* (PEEK 23638) +PEEK 23637

2 RANDOMIZE USR (scrub): HEM <>1 234 567 89 0 1 234 5678 901 234 567 89 01 23
45678901234567890123456

Makescrub.

19 REM ***********************

29 REM * Bill Leigh, Sept 83 *

39 REM ***********************

49 REM ****** MAKESCRUB ******

59 REM ***********************

69 REM

100 RESTORE : GO SUB 1000

109 REM save registers

110 DATA 11 F5 ,C5,D5,E5 11

1 1 9 REM change line nos

120 DATA "2A,45,5C,CD,6E f 19, 06, 00,70 r EB,70, 23, 04,70, 04,EB, 23,70"

129 REM relocate lines

130 DATA ” 2A , 5 5 , 5C , E5, 1 B , CO , DD ,19, ED , SB , 5 3 , 5C , D 5 , ED , B 0 "

139 REM transfer control

140 DATA ,T E1 ,05,06,78,48,06,00 , A? ,09 , E 9 "

149 REM reclaim space

150 DATA "D1 ,E1 ,CD,E5, 19"

159 REM restore registers

160 DATA "El ,D1 ,C1 , FI *“

169 REM return

170 DATA. " C 9 "

179 REM correct line length
ISO POKE scrub-13,69

189 REM save start address

190 LET scrubO“Scrub
200 FOR X=1 TO 2 STEP 0
210 READ m$

220 FOR y=1 TO ( 1 +LEN m$)/3

230 LET z=3*y-2 : GO SUB 500

240 LET n=m* 1 6

250 LET z=z+1: GO SUB 500

260 LET n=n+m

270 POKE scrub, n

280 LET scrub=scrub+1

290 NEXT y

300 IF m$="C9" THEN LET
310 NEXT X
320 RUN 1000

499 REM hex digit conversion

500 IF " 0"<=m$ (z) AND th$ ( z) <=" 9 " THEN LET m=VAL m$ (z) : RETURN

510 IF ,r A"<=m$ ( z ) AND m$ ( z) <="F" THEN LET m-CODE m$(z)-55: RETURN

52 0 PRINT "Error in statement: 1 -: PRINT

53 0 PRINT TAB 5;" DATA ' ; " " 11 " : PRINT : PRINT

540 POKE scrubO- 1 3,63: POKE scrub0,201

550 LIST 109: STOP

1000 LET scrub=1 5+256* (PEEK 23638) +PEEK 23637

1001 RANDOMIZE USE (scrub): REM <>123456789012345678901234567890123
45678901234567890

1002 RETURN

Vocabulary,

10 REM LANGUAGE TUTOR

by H.coofubes (8^833

LET

£0 POKE £3653,3: LET hs =i
n tB 11 "

30 BORDER 7: PRPER 7: CLS : IN
K 0: POKE USR “a",SS5: FOR ( = 1 T
O S: POKE USR "a " + / , 129 : NEXT f:
POKE USR "a"+f, £55
4© PRINT RT S,9i INK 0; PAPER

5; Is ft LET R qi = T MY MU I IN I LI I I I I I"

1 1 W "t . , e, 7 .Tro

l&i ; RT 4,0; g i : FOR f =5 TO 19: P
RINT RT f , 0; "O" ; ftT f ,31; : NEX

T f: PRINT RT £0,0; 9$: LET g =7 :

(continued on next page)

Vocabulary

If you need help memorising foreign-
language vocabularies Michael Coombes
has come up with just the program for
you. It is suitable for both 16K and 48K
Spectrums,

When the program is run, an intro-
duction page is first displayed, followed by
a menu. Your first task is to enter the
vocabulary, and you can then select the
Test option. The program will ask for 10
translations, either English to foreign or
vice versa. The program then tells you your
score and returns you to the menu. There is
also a Save option so that the program ean
be stored and retrieved for a later test.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February W34

155

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PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Whether its your first computer or whether you're already an
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SARA 14 ” COLOUR MONITOR//
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► Circle No. 251

The 8064 packs all the power you will ever need. Sleek and trim, yet fully expandable with eight slot
expansion unit.

The newly designed compact keyboard is a piece of art in itself. The OM8064 features ultrasensitive key
and single key programming commands, you will get much more including a powerful 64K dynamic RAM up to
14K of ROM, 24 line x 40 character text display with high resolution graphics a 6502 and Z80 microprocessor.

12 month on site maintenance

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CP/M Wordstar Galstar and Infostar

CP/M Basic Trainer BBC Personal. Data Base & Planner Calc
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s - m Book reviews wim

Assembler for
the IBM PC

Paul Myerscough looks at the guides available for those preparing to delve
below the surface of the PC’s operating software.

at the HEART of the IBM PC is an Intel
8088 microprocessor. It is this chip that
provides the instruction set and hence lays
the ground rules for assembler pro-
gramming. The 8086/88 family of
processors has been available for five years
now, and several books have been
published that describe their programming
and hardware features. Two new books are
specific to the IBM PC and more are on the
wav, no doubt inspired by the news that the
PC started outselling Apple In the U.S. last
summer.

The iAPX-88 Book is produced by Intel,
the company that designed the 8088. Not
surprisingly, it provides an excellent and
readable description of the chip archi-
tecture and instruction set. This book
has been available for some time and is
presented as a publication designed to sell
the 8088 as well as inform potential users.
The initials iAPX stand for Intel Advanced
Processor System, and the iAPX-88 Is a
real or hypothetical computer based on the
Intel 8088 CPU.

In their introduction the authors outline
the architecture of the 8088 and describe
what makes it superior to eight-bit
microprocessors. This clear and concise
discussion is comprehensible to anyone
with a little basic knowledge on the subject.
For those without it there is a supplement
towards the back entitled 5 'What is a
Microcomputer?”.

Intel assembler

For the programmer, the chapter
“Architecture and Instructions” describes
the concepts of segmented memory, the
register structure, addressing modes, and
the 8088 instructions grouped by function.
A further 24 pages are devoted to assembly -
language programming. Although the
information is applicable to all 8088
assemblers, specific reference is made to
ASM-86 which is Intel's own assembler.
The text in this section is largely reproduced
from The 8086 Primer by Stephen Morse,
published by Hayden Book Co.

A short program is given by way of
introduction to many of the concepts and
terms employed in 8088 programming. The
style is at once authoritative and concise,
and the authors define their terms carefully

and analytically as they are introduced. An
assembler statement is built from different
kinds of tokens, a token being an identifier,
a reserved word, a constant, an operator,
and so on.

Each category of token is discussed
before the authors deal with statements,
which they divide Into instructions and
directives. Instructions have their equiv-
alent 8088 function; directives control the
way the assembler generates the 8088
program from the instructions.

The directives described correspond with
a subset of the psuedo-ops available with
the IBM Macro Assembler and allow the
definition of symbols, data storage,
segments and procedures. The discussion
that follows is clear but very condensed,
covering genera) and 8088-specific pro-
gramming techniques in a few pages
with four short example programs to
provide an idea of how real routines might
look.

Some 110 pages, over one-third of the
book, are devoted to an alphabetic table of
instructions with one or two pages per
instruction. Here you will find a
description, details of the operation in
pseudo-code format, the flags affected, the
binary encoding, the required operands,
clock times, instruction length and a coding
example. This information is complete
but lacks the illuminating explanations
provided by Rector and Alexy in their
book,

Osborne/McGraw-Hill books seem to be
becoming the standard texts for assembler

programming on microcomputers. The
8086 Book by Russell Rector and George
Alexy was published in 1980 and is on the
shelves once more after being unavailable
for some months. Whereas Intel's book
provides a readable and concise intro-
duction to the 8088 microprocessor
and 8088 programming, this one is much
more of a reference work. The scope here is
slightly more comprehensive.

Stock text

It is always a little strange when such
specialised books should take the time
to answer the question **W T hat is
programming?” One suspects that this
publisher's word-processing software
automatically pulls in the standard
paragraphs on these subjects, which are
admittedly concise and well presented.
After this short general introduction two
programming problems are presented and
the reader is walked through the design
process.

By page 20 the 8086 is introduced; from a
programming point of view the 8086 and
8088 are identical, the only noticeable
difference being run times. The description
begins with the registers and the flags, and
reference is made to the equivalent 8080
implementation. A discussion of the 8086
address modes follows. About 150 pages
are used to describe the instruction set.

The concepts surrounding Intel's
Multibus system are introduced, and some
(continued on next page)

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

161

Book reviews

(continued from previous page j
notes are provided on multi-processor
configurations. The book ends with a set of
appendices. They give a table summarising
all the 8086 instruction in alphabetic
mnemonic sequence and in object code
numeric sequence; electrical and timing
data sheets for the 8086/88 and related
series of clock and bus controller; and notes
on the differences between the 8086 and the
8088, These hardware differences effect
some of the pin signals and the bus timing
for the data/address cycles.

The two remaining books, as their titles
indicate, are IBM PC oriented and give
themselves a wider brief. They refer not
only to the 8088 and its programming, but
also to the PC-DOS operating system, the
ROM BIOS and some of the additional
hardware that is found in the PC. Both
refer specifically to the IBM Macro
Assembler, though it cannot function very
differently from any other assembler for
the 8088 CPU.

New breed

Scanlon’s IBM PC Assembler Language
is one of the new breed. A floppy disc
prepared for use in conjuction with the
book contains the example programs
referred to in the text. It cannot be denied
that this is a good idea. However, in this
instance the publisher seems to be
motivated by dollars: the programs cannot
be described as useful outside of the context
of this already expensive book, yet you
have to pay an extra $34 for t he diskette . By
adding its real cost of two or three dollars
on to the book and packaging them
together successful sales would be assured.

The approach taken by Scanlon is that of
a cataloguer. He brings together fairly
comprehensively relevant information
from all the IBM PC manuals, lists it,
tabulates it, describes it, and provides some
useful if unexciting example programs. By
contrast, David Widen and Jeffrey Krantz
in their 8088 Assembly Language
Programming: the IBM PC provide a
clearer and more readable discussion of
much the same subject matter, with original
programming examples and excellent
diagrams. They also manage to cover more
topics more thoroughly in fewer pages.
While Wiilen and Krantz have a style that is
easy and authoritative, Scanlon’s is more
uneven and in places awkwardly verbose.

Both books launch into binary arithmetic
and numbering systems and in a few pages
seek to embrace bytes, nybbles, twos-
complement form, and some discussion of
the 8088 architecture. Such a short and
general introduction is difficult to organise
in a few pages and Scanlon is less successful
here.

Under the label of “8088 Architecture”
Wiilen and Krantz provide a well organised
summary of the internal functions of the
CPU and its instruction set by functional
group, again with good explanatory
diagrams. Then they quickly add all that is

necessary to create a simple program:
describing how it sits in memory, how it
relates to DOS, and the BIOS. Some
specifics about the IBM Macro Assembler
are supplied, particularly the essential
pseudo-op instructions to the assembler for
reserving storage and defining procedures
and segments. They take about 60 pages to
describe this material.

Scanlon requires 120 pages to cover less
ground — he does not even mention DOS
and BIOS. Some of the more esoteric
pseudo-ops provided by the IBM Macro
Assembler are rather difficult to
understand from the manual and here
Scanlon’s detailed explanation provides a
welcome insight. However, even he is
stumped when it comes to Record and
Struc.

After these introductory chapters the two
books diverge on to different paths.
Scanlon takes a couple of chapters to cover
higher-precision mathematics and data
structure operations. Though the material
he provides is useful for orienting the
inexperienced programmer, it can be found
in virtually any text on the subject. He
approaches the keyboard, video display,
cassette and the like from the point of view
of a program looking oui wards. The
interrupts are catalogued and described,
and a Few simple programming examples
are given.

Wiilen and Krantz follow their
introduction to the CPU and l he Macro
Assembler with a thorough and interesting
breakdown of the IBM PC hardware and
its control. Starting with the system board
they provide descriptions of the 8259
interrupt controller, the 8253 timer, and the
8255 programmable peripheral interface,
which are all configured in the PC as I/O
devices. They go on io discuss the other
devices that are not on the system board.
The chapter referring to the display and
printer adaptors describes their operation
at length and provides programs for both
monochrome and colour/graphics use.

A typical application where Basic
programming is often just not fast or
versatile enough is that involving com-
munications. For this reason, although
it Is an optional extra, the RS-232-C serial
communication adaptor is of particular
interest to the assembler programmer.
The authors provide a good chapter on
this device, describing asynchronous
protocol, hos a Uart functions, and how it
interfaces through an RS-232 inter face to a

modem. Programming of the Intel 8250
used by the IBM PC for controlling
asychronous communication is described,
and a simple terminal-emulation program
is provided as an example.

Unlike Scanlon, Wiilen and Krantz do
not shy away from disc I/O. Their chapter
on the subject starts at basics with the
anatomy of a diskette and takes you
through file access using DOS to access at
the track/sector level using BIOS routines.

The books discussed so far fall into one
or more of the categories 8088 reference
work, assembler programming text and
IBM PC assembler-level guide. Pro-
gramming the 8086/8088 by James W
Coffron falls between all three stools. He
covers the 8086/88 in sufficient depth to
provide a good introduction but the book is
not comprehensive enough to be considered
as a reference work.

On assembler programming Coffron
discusses some important topics but others
are omitted, and his program examples
could be more frequent and more illum-
inating. A 20-page chapter on the IBM PC
is dropped in almost as an afterthought and
deals with only a few of the machine’s
features.

Numbers

Following the mould of the two PC-
oriented books, Coffron starts by intro-
ducing number representation, binary
arithmetic and associated processor- flag
usage, and follows up with a summary
review of the CPU archiecture and a
detailed discussion of ihe 8086/88 address
modes and their encoding.

Next comes a substantial chapter of 105
pages cataloguing the 8088 instruction-set
mnemonics. Unlike Rector and Alexy,
Coffron does not choose to expand on the
information provided by Intel and leaves
out some of the details available.

Programming techniques are intro-
duced with some very basic arithmetic and
a discussion of subroutines. This is
followed by a useful review of external
and internal CPU interrupts and a chapter
on I/O ports and instructions In and Out.
His program examples here are short and
curious — to generate a delay, and to
scan a four-by-four keyboard. Although
the 8255 PJO and the 8253 timer chips are
mentioned he does not convey their
functions and uses as clearly as Wiilen and
Krantz do.

The iAPX 88 Book, by the Intel Corporation. Published by Reston Publishing
Company, Inc., 315 pages, £11

The 8086 Book by Russell Rector and George Alexy. Published by
Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 595 pages, £13.95
IBM PC Assembly Language — A Guide for Programmers by Leo J Scanlon.

Published by R J Brady/Prentice-Hall Publishing. 311 pages, £16.95
8088 Assembler Language Programming: The IBM PC by David C Wiilen and
Jeffrey I Krantz. Published by Howard W Sams & Co. Inc., 235 pages,

£13.55

Programming the 8086/8088 , by James W Coffron. Published bv Sybex Inc
309 pages, $14,95 ' ' 1

162

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

TDK DISKS

DATALIFE DISKS

XIDEX DISKS

From Verbatim. the world's leading diskette
manufacturer. Full 6 year warranty, Alt
minidisks are certified tor double density
recording, and are fitted with hub ring
reinforcement as standard.

Prices per box of to disks,

5,25 DISKETTES

MD52S S/S, D/D, 48TFI £16:25

MD5S0 D/S, D/D. 40 TPI £27.1 5

MDS77 s/s, D/D. 96 TPI £25.66

AAD557 D/S, D/0, 96 TPt £34,20

4S TPi suitable lor 35 or 40 (rack operation.
96 TPI suiiabte for 77 or BQ track operation.
10 and 16 hard sectored versions available
at same prices.

0 DISKETTES

FQ34-9090 S/S, S/D £26,10

FD34-5O09 S/S, D/D £26.60

DD34-4Q01 D/S. D/D £30.96

32 ha/d sectored versions available at same
prices,

High grade flexible disks bom one ol I be
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disks, in boxes oi 10.

5.25” DISKETTES

IATD-S S/s, 0/0, 43 TPI £24,30

M2D-S D/S, D/D, 48 TPI £34.30

M2DX-S D/S, D/D, 96 TPI £45,50

46 TPI suitable for 35 or 40 track operation.
96 TPI suitable for 77 or 00 track operation.

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PRINTER STAND

CTI-CP80

PRINTER

DISK DRIVE
HEAD CLEANING

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Features:—

Friction and tractor Teed as standard
80 ops.

Bi-directional logic seeking,

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Suitable tor use with del matrix printers. Lifts
printer sufficiently to enable conimuous
siatfonery to self- stack. Painted steel unit.
Dimensions: 39cm wide
x 26cm deep
x 10cm high

Helps to protect your valuable data, end
minimise expensive downtime and repair
coat?. Consists of a Ilexi&ie jacket, which
receives a pre-saturated cleaning disk.
Each disk is sealed within a foil sachet to
ensure foot it coniains the right quantity ol
cleaning fluid when used. After use the disk
is disposed of. and the packei is kept (or
tula re use.

Sellable for single or dual head drives.
Please specify 0 w 5.25' ' disks.

STARTER KIT £7 .70

(contains Jacket and two cleaning disks}

Italic printing and auto underlining.
Condensed, emphasised, expanded and
double sfhke printing (can be mixed in a
line).

Parallel interface fitted as standard
12 month warranty

Print sample available on request.

CP-80 PR INTER £249,00

Optional RS-232 interface £40.00

Special VIC20/VIC 64 I nterfaee £46.00

Protocl your diskettes and valuable data
Irom external contamination, Lockable,
portable and secure. Two pan box made
from anti -sialic ABS plastic. Price includes
dividers and index labels . Capacity 80 disks.

AS Storage box (for 6 ,r disks) £32-90
A6 Storage box (for 5.25" disks} £22,00

200 sheets continuous stationery.
T x 9'/!" binder,
t x highlighter pen.
choice ofrubber feel/sticky pads.

REPLACEMENT CLEANING KITS £14.60
[pack ol 10}

Aff prices inclusive of delivery and insurance on British
mainland.

YOUR NAM E . - - — ■

ADDRESS - - —

COMPUTER

FURNITURE

To: DISKPOST, FREEPOST, WEST MOLES EY h SURREY.
KT8 GQF. Tel: 01-941 4066

Qty Product Price

Tel. No.: -----

Please charge to my Vlsa/Mastprcharge/Amedcan
E x press/Dl net* Ciub accou ni.

My card number is - — — -

Suitable for use with alt leading personal
computers. Features a top shelf (or monitor/
printer . lower shelf for books, paper and
general storage; large desk top surface at
keyboard height; attractive teak finish, and
castors for mobility,

U.K Manufacture Comes in itat pack for
self assembly - foil instructions provided.

A further range of more sophisticated uniis
is available - please ask for details .

THE ORGANISER £55-00

Delivery /Insura nee

: OF CHEQUE PAYABLE
TO DISK POST

Credit Card Orders

We welcome Visa. [Ba/Cfoycard). Mastercharga. (Access), Diners
Club and American Express. There is no credit card surcharge.
Either write your card number on your order, or telephone your order
to our sales office.

Company Orders

It you are unable to raise cheques without an invoice, please post or
telephone your order to us. We will then forward a pro-forma invoice,
for your accounts department lo pay against.

• Circle No, 185

* NEW1984 PRICES *

FREEPOST West Motesey
Surrey KT8 0QF. Tel: 01 -941-4066

DiSKPOST" is the mail order division o( the BFI Electronics Group
Europe's largest independent diskette supplier,

"fr

N

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

163

The economical way to aci
printer buffering. The Buffe
board easily adds memory t
your current Apple interfat
system, freeing your com putt
for additional input. Easily up
gradable from 16K, the Quite
board can store up to 20 pagE
of text. It fits neatly inside yoi
Apple, "docking" onto you
existing printer interface. N
clumsy boxes or cables, n
external power supplies,,, jo;
convenience and economy.

£109 + VAT

The name may have changed but
the product is stii! the best available f

Make your Apple run
3 A times faster

NEPTUNE

two most popular expansion

Xh RENTAL "V

Want to rent an Apple?

Or an IBM PC. . .a QX10. .
a Printer or anything else yo?
can think of? Call either o
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from one machine to fifty
from one day to a thousani
years.

The P St P fan is here!

This neat (an with power
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front facing switch will help
to keep your Apple cool and
avoid possible data errors by
smoothing current flow and
keeping the Apple's power
supply and circuitry at a
lower temperature. The fan
is a high-quality unit at

£39.95 + VAT (Dealer and
Distributor enquiries welcome,}

WQRDHANDLER

NOW ONLY £39,95 + VAT
SUPERB VALUE

AN INCOMPARABLE GRAPHIC
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Works on sit micros with a suitable
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Magicalc
d Base It

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Apple Mechanic
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Murder by the Dozen

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YOU GET:

An Apple lie

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TV Modulator (Colour and Sound)
Exclusive Apple Bag
Plus MONEY OFF VOUCHERS
FOR

£25 off Apple I le Monitor (£149
+ VAT)

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games

or Apple Logo
or Applewriter tie
or Quickfile lie

46% off Micronet 800 Service a
saving of £79,95 which includes;

* Modem

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* British Telecom Jackplug
Installation

* Po stage/Pa c k rng /I nsu ranee

1 days FREE training at an Apple
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Various Vouchers for money off
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£999 including VAT

Get into Personal computing in
a big way I

ONE MORE WAY TO GET THE
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Fast Dos

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SNAPSHOT TWO

An accidentally erased disk can
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Making backup copies of all
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on any 48K Apple) without
SNAPSHOT TWO Present,

£99,00 +V AT

The most sophisticated buffere
Apple printer interface availebli
The New Buffered Grappler
combines the industry leadir
features of the Grappler + wit
the time saving economies of th
Bufferboerd, £179 + VA1

With this much interface powe
you'll never need anything els«
Over 90,000 Apple computers ar
using Orange Micro product
Innovation and excellence hav
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The top selling Grappler + he
become an industry siandarc
recommended by more softwar
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innovations include the Grapple
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the new Orange interface, wit
text screen dumps and formattin
at a low price.

r

EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR

SAIWZTt

s'ksrrs'vts Have changed their name to

Titan

1 technologies, INC.

SATURN RAM

Perfect for Apple II, U+, Me
end their compatibles.

In 1981 , we Introduced our
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Big on benefits.

Each Saturn RAM board performs
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banks of RAM give you loads
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RAM boards like a speedy disk
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32K £129 1 28 K £299

■ lie

features, on a single card.

Titan's exclusive Neptune Ex-
tended 80-Column Card gives
you increased video display and
up to 192K of extra memory
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Dramatic increases in speed and
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Software included with Neptune
lets you use the additional memory
as a super-fast RAM disk -a big plus

with many programs.

get Titan's special VIC-

You also l. . . _

EXPANQ/bO software to expand
VisiCalc up to 220K of workspace
m emory and to p rov ide me n y
more VisiCalc enhancements.
PASCAL and CP/M PSEUDO-
DISK patches and a DOS reloca-

tion program are included with
each Neptune card.

64 K £179 +■ VAT each
additional 64 K (up to max 192K)
- £109 + VAT

Now you can write Applesoft Programs bigger than 64 K!
EMBER is written for Titan RAM Boards or Neptune ex tended SO cot.
card. You can use as much memory as you can possibly plug in to your
Apple I Ember automatically puts variables and strings in expansion
RAM leaving full tower 48 k for program text. AH bank switching is
done for you. Each array can use up to 64 K of RAM. Ember runs
slower then Applesoft— but you can always use an Accelerator!

£34.95 + VAT

Imagine running VisiCalc, DB
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This Titan exclusive has its own
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£299 + VAT

HELLO FAN!

GLANMIRE 64K EXTENDED
00 COLUMN CARDS FOR THE
APPLE I le

— at a price youV find hard to
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This card works in the same way
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THE APPLE
PROFESSIONAL
HOME COMPUTER

MAGICALC

80 th the Apple It (minimum
48K) and the new Me are sup-
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memory cards up to a total
memory of 51 2K (four 1 28 K
cards). There are 254 rows and
63 columns of work space on
the spreadsheet. The program
works In 40 or 80 columns
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Q, What advanced spreadsheet
features does MAGICALC have?

A , 1. Columns may be different
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2. Columns may be made invisible
to hide data or to operate as 3
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gether, fpr example, while leaving
the title and other windows
unchanged),

3. individual cells may be made
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4 Ceils may be protected to
prevent inadvertent erasure.

5. Ceils may he protected to al/ow
on/y numbers or iabe/s to aid in
the setup of templates ,

6. A "tab" to the nex r unpro tested
cell is provided for fast data
entry into templates ,

7. On-screen indication of Global
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as weft as Manual or Automatic
Computations mode.

£99 + VAT

PetejS^Pai

EUROPEAN DISTRIBUTOR

r Grappler +

I PTttiCT kXofett

The Original Apple graphic
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ductlon three years ago, th
Grappler has been initiated b‘
many, but never matched, Ncu,
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the Grappler* remains the mos
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two dozen commands give Appl
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including a new 30 colum
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£109 + VAT

way to an
The Buffe
memory t
interfac

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ople who are considering JACK
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Whet is the incredible JACK of
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JACK is an integrated applications
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Who should tauy JACK?

JACK is perfect for the first-
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Experienced computer-users who
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What kinds of work can I do
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If your work consists of words,
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or even lists with words, JACK
will makE that work easier than
any other software you can buy.
Things you can’t do with most
software are easy with JACK:
write a memo with cal dilation s-
and do those calculations at the
same time: or create form letters
from a mailing list with a single
command, or make a list of
’what- if' options and select the
best one by simply telling the
computer what you want.

What else makes JACK special?

Convenience. Most people use
computers to prepare documents,
to handle informatiom, and. to
answer "what-if"-type questions.
Without JACK, it takes a separate
program to do each task. But
most people don't work that
way. We work on tasks that
involve words, numbers, and
record-keeping all together. And
those tasks don't conveniently
sort themselves into "word proces-
sing tasks", "calc tasks", and
"data base tasks". By allowing
you to work on one task in all
three ways, at the same time,
JACK offers greater convenience
than single - function software
packages, JACK is TH*E software
that lets your personal computer
work the way YOU do, instead of
the other way around.

How long will it take me to get
going with JACK?

Experienced computer -users have
picked up JACK in as little as
half an hour. First-timers may
take a day or two, JACK comes
with a step -by -step tutorial of
seven lessons, so you can go at
your own pace.

incredible jack

£129.50 + VAT

THE

APPLE — IBM
CONNECTION

This might sound like heresy,
but we're sure that some of
you are going to want to
transfer any kind of file to
and from the 1BM-PC. The
ability to upgrade fifes from
the 8 bit Apple to the 16
bit IBM-PC must be of use to
someone?

Can also be used to send elec-
tronic mail messages jn mixed
Apple / IBM PC network.
Comes with a disk for the
Apple and a disk for the
IBM PC, £139 + VAT

BECOME A PETE 8t PAM
DEALER

We're looking to expand our
fast growing dealer network.
Calf now for details

NEC

GREEN MONITORS

72" diagonal & 90° deflection
video band width 30 Hz 20 MHz.
An excellent high Quality video
display monitor.

£135 + VAT

SPECIAL OFFER

OKI MICROLINE
PRINTERS

* Dual mode printing

Mode 7 — 9 x 9 matrix, 160
cps bidirectional logic seeking
Mode 2 - dual pass, near-fetter-
Quality (NLQf printing

* Pf'n -addressable graphics 72 x 72
dot resolution

* Superscript, subscript and under-
line

* Proportional spacing in NLQ
mode

* Downline loadable character
set

* No routine maintenance

The Microlino 92

(360 x 32S x 130mm)

Parallel £399 Serial £419

The Microline 93
(512 x 328 x 130mm}

Parallel £599 Serial £629

1-2-5-

Meet 1-7-3 - the remarkable
new software package that puts
more raw power at your fingertips
than anything yet created for the
IBM PC. 1-2-3 actually combines
in for mat ion management, spread-
sheet, and graphing in one pro-
gram that can perform all three
functions interchangeably and in-
stantly at the touch of a key.
That’s Power.

To explain : since 1-2-3's
information management, spread-
sheet and graphing functions
reside in memory simultaneously,
you can go from retrieval to spread
sheet calculation to graphing
instantly, just by pressing a few
keys. So now you can experiment
and recalculate and look at data
in an endless variety of ways. As
fast as your mind can think up
new possibilities. There’s no lag
between you and the computer.
And that ’s a new kind of power -
power that’s greater then the sum
of it s programs.

T2 £375.00 + VAT

MultiMate

Complete Function Key Orimtaiion

MultiMate™ is the fastest, easiest to use
and most powerful word pnxX-ssor
available on microcomputers today
Multi.Msut™ offers a complete function
key driven system for efficient dcxhimcm
creation and modification Most functions
are performed white in the document
t rather than from menus or utilities! wuh
a nummum number of kevsirokes

Cursor Positioning Functions

Mull (Mate™ has the mow complete set of
cursor posmoning capabilities available
today

Editing Functions

The standard hinc^divs such as Insert.
Delete, and Move, as well as ibe more
complex funaiuos, are self prompting
and are performed wilh a minimum
number of keystrokes

Formatting Functions

Full control over tab sellings, line
spacing and line length arc provided by
MultiMaie™ s formal line feature. An
no I mined number of formal lines may he
included in your document Format line
modification results in automatic text
readjustment from ihe modified formal
line to ihe nexi formal line H,*r ihe end of
the page

Printing Functions

Mul[iMaie™’s complete printer control
capabilities allow full utilization of the
features available on your primer
MukiMalc ,H, s Header jnd Footer facility
ts unsurpassed m flexibility ,tnd ease of
use Alternate I leaders and kx ne rs are
supported .is well as ihe ability to change
Header or Fix Her text as often as needed
wiilufi a document

Printer Cuntriul dudes provide special
priming functions unique lo your printer

Document printing is performed m a
' background' mode *o that while a
document is being primed, you may
treat or revise another document
Foreground printing is aUo provided
The F h nnier Queue Control allows you hi
com rid ihe docunieni.s to be printed l*y
deleting a document from ihe queue
placing a document on hold or releasing
li from hold, moving a document to
the lop of the queue, and restarting a
document curremly printing
Advanced Functions

MuluMate™'s Library funaion allows
you to store an un limned number of
boilerplate phrases, paragraphs, or forms
Sup io one page each) on a diskette
These Library entries may be recalled for
insertion into your document whenever
specified

Merge- Repaginate, Column Manipulation
and (he other advanced functions are also
available and equally easy in use

With the Column Manipulation function,
you may Move. Copy, Delete, or Insert
columns of text or numerical dau in a

1 >age of your document with a few
Efi^trtikes

Column Calculation function’, provide
you with the following math capabilities
Vertical and Horizontal Addmon io sum
columns or lines of numerical daSa,
Subtraction, which is accomplished by
designating a number as negative, and
[hereby is equivalent to adding a negative
numlxT Combined, these column-
onenied functions yield you considerable
flexibility ami versatility when creating or
editing documents with numerical tLita

MyUr Key Label*

see through . color 'Coded, adhesive
labels are provided for quick and
e;isv identification of the function keys
B<kh a Help screen and a Function
bx atioii Chart are provided for use
when you are working on an
unmarked keyboard

~pc]

£339.00 + VAT

COPY II PC

Allows you to make back-
up copies of your valuable
software, £39,95 + VAT

SEE US AT THE WHICH
COMPUTER SHOW
ON STAND 2301

MULTI-TASKING PC DOS

(1E8

AND MAKE ONE IBM PC
WORTH NINE

TASCM ASTER SOFTWARE does
That by converting PC-DOS to
CONCURRENT PC-DOS thus
enabling you to create up to 9
tasks and run up to 9 programs
simultaneously, T A5CMASTE R
DOES THE WORK OF NINE.
While you are working with a task
on the screen other tasks are
working for you. To give you
every board you may need for
your IBM PC we include with
TASCMASTEH SOFTWARE a
powerful MULTIFUNCTION
board FREE! !

Take you Choice of;

ADD RAM ELITE FEATURES or
ADDRAM PLUS FEATURES
with RAM DISK and RAM5POOL
SOFTWARE TOO

tEL

£345.00 + VAT

'SIDEWAYS"

FOR EASY-READING HARD COPY

Now you can print all the
columns of your spreadsheet, all
at one time, all on one continuous
page. Si da way 3 , the ingeniously
simple software program, causes
your hard copy to print out —
you guessed it — sideways. So
your spreadsheet columns need
never fall off the edge of your
printer paper again.

£49.49 + VAT

INFOTORY

Stock Control System

lnfotory and its special data

management feature. ANY-

REPORT, Provide you with a

Stock Control System that is:

* Easy to understand and use.

* Comprehensive enough to solve
your inventory management
problems ,

* Flexible enough to offer alterna-
tives that satisfy the needs
of your ' particular business ,

* Shift * 1 of the art - fully utilising
the power and potential of your
computer.

* Capable of handling 5000 to
65,000 stock items depending
upon your floppy or hard disc
drive configuration.

tm

£350 + VAT

PeteXPam Computers

piM

pigo&YirrtPPii—

London Retail-'

1 , Gluneaglc* P&ad.
London E'.MIS SAY

phone 01 '877 7631

London Office
Open $AIufdiyi

Mad Order & Distribution
New Hall Hey ft Dad,

Rente nrtal e . Lanci, . B &4 6 JG Norwt^taO Agen t

Phone* Tht Norwegian Software Home

10 706) 2 1 232 1 a 22 7 01 1 Add ten Ok ernve i*n 1 45

Telex. 635740 Petpam G Otle 5

Telephone 47 2 64 55 77

Price* do no! include VAT pleas* add 16% to vour remittance
Postage and Packing FREE

Opening Haurs 5-6 Mon. Id Fn 9.30 - 5 531

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ilSVl IV

COMPILERS

If you have any experience of writing
Compilers or Interpreters and are
familiar with 6502, 6809 or Z80
Assembler then we would like to hear
from you.

We provide machines for the duration
of the work and offer cash, royalties
or a combination of the two.

If you are interested, please send
relevant details to:-

COMPILERS

OASIS SOFTWARE

9A ALEXANDRA PARADE

WESTON-SUPER-MARE

AVON.

• Circle No. 188

• Circle No. 189

The COMPLETE solution to your POWER SUPPLY problems with the POWER BANK ...
"BLACK OUTS" will not affect the operation of your computer system.

Networks

i

B

Hard

Disks

v : v :

V.V.V.

■: :

■:

kwh-

s

Micro

Systems

* Output derived constantly from self contained sealed
for life batteries.

* Sine wave shaped output — voltage and frequency
closely regulated.

* Genuine "NO-BREAK" unit with continuous output
rating of 500250 & 120VA,

* Much more than a "spike and surge" suppressor.

Printers

Data

Transmission etc.

For superior to a voltage stabilizer.

Overload and short circuit (output) Indication and
protection.

Bench or rack mounting (500VA).

Battery level monitored — mains on — mains off
indication*

Manufactured by:- POWER TESTING (SALES) LTD 65a Shenfietd Road, Brentwood, EssexCM15 8HA.
Tel: 0277 233188 Telex: D24224MON Ref. 586

11

KvvM

-■ :

m

m

•: : :•••:

: '

i §1

• Circle No. 190

167

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

ELECTRONIC MAIL
PRESTEL

BULLETIN BOARD
TELECOM GOLD
COMPANY DATA BASES
MICRONET 800
TELESOFTWARE
MICRO-TO-MICRO “CHAT

Tandata Marketing -Limited,

Albert Road North, Malvern. Worcs.*WR14 2TL

Tcslex: 337617 Presta] ' 793 # Telecom Gold TAN 001

SMART MODEMS

Auto dial, direct
connect, with 8
telephone & 8 ID store
on modem, 120O/75bps
or full multirate (1200/
75, 75/1200, 300/300 ful]
duplex, 1200/1200 half
duplex). Many advanced
features. From £99.

Also special terminal,
Frestel and downloader
software for BBC APPLE
I COMMODORES with
ore following

Also Available: Spectrum Printer Interface
(Fully compatible, eg, with TASWORD 2) £39

and ATARI PRINTER DRIVER £45

Plus lots more.

Micro Research Ltd, FREEPOST 0506-

industrial Unit 6, Knightsbridge East, 31605

LIVINGSTON, West Lothian, Scotland. EH54 5BR.

• Circle No. 191

168

I VAT | (JVTRi^ I FREE

I INCLUDED I v I DELIVERY

Expand your

ELECTRON

with

MRUS ELECTRON-
CLOUD®

A NEAT "BLACK BOX" CONTAINING:

EC1 Centronics Printer Interface (with Cable)

EC2 A/D Converter and J oy stick Ports
ECS Double User I/O Ports

Complete only £79

SEPARATE:

EC1 Pri nter Interface (Base U nit) £39

EC2 A/D Converter and Joystick Ports £29

EC3 Double User I/O Ports £29

Available Mall Order (10 Days), soon to be on sale In many High
Street Outlets.

Coming soon:

ECDI Disk Interface approx £99

ECSP Speech Synthesiser approx £39

• Circle No. 193

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

«.» LOWEST PRICES - FAST DELIVERY ***

PRICE PROMISE

We will Better any lower delivered puce advertised in lhs Cerent issue or Ft,
PlflKe Telephone

5.25" DISKS - BOXES OF 10

Prices per Bos

EJYSaN

104.' 1 3,'sido 5 Dens 48tpi 40Ti
104/ ID S.' 4 «lo D Dena 4Stpi 4QTi
l04.'2D O/arda D Dena 4Stpi 40T r
204, 'tO Srsidfc Q Dons 9Gi|>i 4QTr
204,20 Dj'&ide Q Dena 9Gtpi 40Tr
VERBATIM DATALIFE tfivn year watranlyl
M0525-OtHR S/aido S Of 0 Dens 48tpi 4QT r
MD550-01-HR D.'aida S m D D*rtS 40tpi 40Tr
MD 5 7 7-01 HR S/sidc O Of O Dens 96spi 7 7.'80Tr
MO 55 7 -01 HR Ojrsido D &i Q Dena 96<pi 77v0OTr

10 or 1G hero sgcIPis 91 same price.
Free pJasUc taMf for limited period only
VERBATIM VEftEX lOn* year w*>r*n<yl
MO 200 01 Safi Sdct&r uninitialised
MO 200- AS Apple Systems Only
MEMQhEX

3431 -NR Sfaide 5 Dens 4Sl.pL 40Tr
3481 -HR S'side 0 Dena 4&ipL 4QTr
348 1 .HR D/aide D Dena 4&<pi 40Tf
3SQ4-HH S.'side 0 Dena 9Glpi 40Ti
3601 -HB D.'aide 0 Dona 9Gtpi 40Tr
BASF IQuelimeEiitl - Special Oiler
IX S/side 5 Dens 4Stpi 40Tr
1 D S.'JtdO 0 Dens 40tpi 40Tr
2D Dfside D Oena 48<pi 40Ti ■
accessories

HCK5 heed Clean Kit with Fluid
LC5 5. 2D Library cases EGLV
LB40-5 LotkablC &0* 40 Capine Disk Pen
LBBD'D Lockable Bqx 85 Cap inc Disk Pen
VCK-5 Verbatim 5 in Head clean kil
VCD- 5 Vertialim 5 in HA; disks Ipiir 1 01

S J DISKS BOXES OF 10

Phene lor moat CompetiEiVd PnCdS f&f Verbatim. Basl,
Momorcx ond Aceas-Spr^s.

POSTAGEfRACKlWCi 1UK)

5.2 5 Diakai'Olean Kit
Library Case
Lockable Box

5-8 10-49

21.00 20. 00 1 9=00
23 = 00 22 = 00 21.00

31.00 30.00 29.00

33.00 32-00 31 00

39.00 35.00 37,00

15.25 15.00 14.50
3 1 50 20.75 19,50
22-00 21.25 20,00
28.00 27,50 26.00

1 4.50 14.25 13.75
14.80 14.50 14.00
20-50 1 & 75 19.00

23.00 22.25 21.50

25.00 24.25 23.25

13.25 13.00 12,50

18.50 16,00 IS, 50

20.00 19.25 18 50

1 5.90 15.50 15.00
l.SO 1.60 1.70

13.50 13-00 12.50

17.50 16.50 15,50

6.40 6.20 6,00

12.50 12,30 12.10

QTY

P&p

Total Exc.VAT

VAT 15%
fatal Payable

Cl. 'Box’ 1 7 5p/6cm 5-, SOfWOon 10 + 1

SOpJBflx f3Sp/B&x & + , 2 SpvBox 10 + )

£2. 50, 'Box [82 /Box 5 - . C 1 ,'Bex 10 * I

* Add 30pi‘Box far let Oa&s

Please contact us for Quantity Discounta [10+ Bpxes) and Trade Accounts. OFlicial orders accepted
from Government and Educational Establish m#ms.

Mama * + ... TbI. No

Address ,

Ac ces s/B ai da yea rd/C h eque No r .

V if you do not wi$tt to cot out form send order separately

r

34 Cannonbury Avenue, Pinner, Middx HA5 ITS

Telephone orders any time - we do the rest - 01-868 9548

<

Pinner Wordpro

• Circle No, 192

>NEXT MONTH

THE FUTURE IS
YOURS WITH THE
FX20 AT ONLY
£1875.00

• FX20 — 16 Bit/SBit Formulation, 128K — Imbyte ram,
Integra! LAN, choice of 4 OPERATING SYSTEMS and
SPELLBINDER, the total wordprocessing software
supplied FREE

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

• Product Pricing/Enquiry

• Video Library

• Printers Estimating/Job Control

• Accounts (integrated)

• Estate Agents

• Special (Bespoke) Software written • Circle No. 261

ZORBA THE SERIOUS PERSONS PORTABLE

• Software writers/Deveiopers/Engineers

• College and University Dept,

• Business Executives who want to work at home
This is the computer for you. It has

• 8 Bit, SOOKDisc, 5 RAW Formats and corns for up and
down loading to Minis and Mainframes,

• FREE Software is CBASIC, WORDSTAR/NIAILMERGE

AND CALCSTAR £159.00

ORDER BEFORE END 1983 and we will give you 20 DYSAN
DISCS FREE

Phone 0992-445700

AND PLACE YOUR ORDERS NOW • Circle No. 262

i H4 um, Th* Hi*. hui

EPROM PROGRAMMERS

BBC

PET VIC APPLE ACORN

MODEL A 2716, 2516, 2532, 2732, 2732A, 2764, 2564. 25123, 27 ^

MODEL B 2716, 2516, 2532

MODEL C 2716, 2516, 2732 E 50

PET , VIC. ACORN MODEL A.B. or C. ALL PROGRAMMERS CAN

READ/PftOGRAM ME/ VERIFY/COPY
BSC. Apple Model A only.

Full Software Tape suppled for your Computer

PET OWNERS'- Free Programme for making your own Character Sets.

PST SUPERBOARD 40 or BO COLUMN 5 52.SO

• Select up to B ROM/Eprom, RAM/ROMS from any available ROM Soqjtei.

• No Wi res , S w i iches o r Sofde ring Requ i red .

• Will except any combination of 2K or 4K ROM/EPROMS, RAM. r RQMS~

• Select upto 8 of your own Character Sets

APPLE VIA BOARDS *The Via Board contains 1 or 2 6522 Via's Single £27.90
Each 6522 Via 's contains: 2 . ■ 8 bit Programmable I/O Ports. 1 x 8 Bit Shift Register Double
£36.60

• Four Handshaking lines CAT CB1 . CA2, CB2- Two Programmable Timers.

• Full 5622 Data Sheets supplied

ACORN MONrTOR CHIP I2K) £ 1 0. 50

• 1 0 Commands to simplify Machine Code Programming

• Full Screen Editor. Repeat Key. Auto Entry Flashing Cursor. Tape Verify.

• Slow Scroll, Memory Fill, and many more.

PET IEEE PRINTER BUFFER Available soon
lEEE-Gentrontcs - RS232

• Free Your Pet from Printing

• The Printer Buffer receives all your Printer Data in seconds 15 sheets! Then outputs your
Data while you type your next letter,

• "i 4K printer Buffer.

• Full IEEE to IEEE or IEEE to Centronics output-

• IEEE to RS-232 optional extra. E.A,E, for details
CHIPS

2716 EPROM f2K]

£4.00

2532 EPROM (4K)

£650

2764 EPROM [8K|

£8-00

61 16 P-3 12K] Static
RAM £4.50

6522 VtA'S £6.50

CONNECTORS
PET IEEE User Port

£5.65

VIC User Port £5.65
VIC Games Pom £5.65
Acorn Expansion Port

£7,00

PET Cassette Port
(Crimp)

Orders over 1 00 £1.00

Cl Q Cassettes (1 Of

£5 00

Eprom Eraser £40.00
Eprom Eraser Timer

£10.00

ALL THESE PRICES
INCLUDE VAT AND
P&P

Please Add 15% VAT Plus £2,50 P&P to your orders.

OFFICIAL ORDERS

CId COMPUTER INTERFACE DESIGNS
4 ALBERT RD. MARGATE. KENT. 10843) 294648

i Circle No- 194

>W0RD PROCESSING

Almost everyone can benefit from word processing,
and almost every micro now offers a word processor,
so in the March issue Special Section we offer a guide
to the field. We will be examining a range of
packages, from the easiest to use, like the Bank Street
Writer, to the famous WordStar.

COMPETITION

The Research Machines 480Z system is on the test
bench for next month, along with its disc drives and a
bundle of software including WordStar. An outfit
worth £1,000 will be offered as a prize in an
accompanying competition that anyone can enter.

>RE VIEWS

One of the world’s leading micro companies, named
al ter a fruiL, will be launching a user-friendly
computer, named after a raincoat . . .but we aren’t
allowed to mention it. Full details in the next issue.
We will also be looking at battery-powered portable
computers, including hands-on experience with the
new Sharp PC-5000. Software under investigation
includes Oz, Expert-Ease and Atari games.

>AND MUCH MORE!

Features for March include a visit to Xerox’s Parc
where Smalltalk and Lisa-like environments
originated. Commodore 64 owners should order their
copy now: Boris Allan will be helping out with colour-
graphics routines for this machine. Mike Lewis
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plus there will be all the regulars, including News,
Chip-Chat, and pages and pages of free software in
Open File.

Make sure you don’t miss the March issue of

On sale at W H Smith and all leading newsagents after
February 18.

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

169

WHY LOOK FOR ANYTHING ELSE
WHEN YOU COULD AFFORD YOUR OWN
IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER

l

Look.

It’s easy to get to know. Even the brochures are
written in plain English.

It is undemanding in terms of space. It will sit
comfortably on a desk top or, if you 9 re pushed, a
filing cabinet.

And in its attitude to book-keeping, estimates, and
information, it is very accommodating.

Call us today and we 9 ll show you the IBM Personal
Computer. Tel: 01-675 5325/6/7

For further i n formation please write : 1 BM Sales

Interam Computer Systems Ltd
Freepost, London SW11 4BR
Tel: 01 .622 9373 Telex: 325B59

COMPUTER STORE
4B BALHAM HIGH ROAD, LONDON 8W12 9AQ TELEX:925859

IITVIDAM

ftTStfnut

IBM Authorised Dealer

170

• Circle No. 196

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

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Read between the lines and you'll
sec that Personal Computer World's high
praise for the Sage accounting program
is had news for our competitors.

Until now, you might have fell
justified in paying out £1,000 or more for
the complicated 4-7 disk programs
which they offer You might indeed have
felL liiaL at only £375, the Sage program
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The Sage book-keeping/accounting
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• Sales and Purchase Ledgers,

• Nominal Ledger, •Trial Balance,

• VAT Analysis • Monthly and Annual
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Its efficiency is built on simplicity -
and its simplicity accounts for the
price.

Sage is self-installing, easy-to-
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short clear manual and a tutorial
cassette.

Sa ge is available on most CP/M .
MS-DOS and PC-DOS computers and has
so far been implemented on over forty
machines including Apple, Apricot
Epson, 1BM-PC, Sirius and Zenith, it's as
effective in a one-man business as in a

multi-million pound corporation.

We've told you all this before. But
now you've seen Personal Computer
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Its a death sentence for our
competitors!

Return the coupon and we will send
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NEW PRODUCT - SAGE PLUS

The same brilliant features as SAGE,
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Still only one program disL£695,

NEW PRODUCT - SAGE PAYROLL

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Innovation not imitation

• Circle No, 197

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

171

If you want it tomorrow
call us today
01-455 9823

COMPUTER/CALCULATORS

HEWLET PACKARD

HP41CIComp/Cah £126.00

HP 41 C C/R £126 9S

H P 4 1 C V [Comp/Ca I) El 76 .00

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Primer 821 43 A £230.00

Primer 82 162 A £300.00

SHARP

PC 1 500 Pocket Computer £1 30.00

CE 1 48 RS2 32 end Cent l/F £1 30.00
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CE 1 6 1 4 K Add on mom £ 43 .00

CE 1 52 Cassette £36.00

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M Z-8 0 A 4 8K Computer £ 3 SO. 00

HP 1 GC (Hex Coni
HP 1 5C lAdv Scii
HP 7 50 (Portable)

Apple lie
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£81.00
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160,00

HP Plotter 747AR$232or BPlS £832

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64K Rom. 32 K Ram. Full size ascii keyboard. Runs on own power tar 50 hours.

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I Accessories £ Soft we re for Epson HX20 avail able from stock.

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Easy writer H £230.00

Vglkwriter £149,00

Maiimarge £140.00

Easy speller.. £11 5.00

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AppFa writer 1.1 £50,00

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• Circle No. 198

r TOP VALUE AND LOWER PRICES AT

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• Circle No. 199

MICROPACS

£250

Simulation, training and control packages available
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This unique and very popula r package can be used
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All these packages run on the Apple 2/2e system are very
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i Mi crops cs is a division of Process Automaton And Control Systems Ltd. )

172

• Circle No. 200

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1 984

- ~ - — Last word

Return of the
electronic brain

Chris Naylor sets his grey matter working on itself and comes up with some
unexpected predictions of what can be done with a few hundred megabytes.

“OF course,” the man is saying, “you can
do anything you want with a computer.”
He smiles and waves an expansive hand
over his shelves of shiny machines while,
before him, an uncertain customer
nervously fingers a cheque book.
“Anything,” continues the salesman.
''Absolutely anything at all. It's entirely up
to you what you make it do*”

And, at this point, one ceases to
eavesdrop and shuffles away out of earshot
so that this particular naive end-user may
be fleeced in private. Too much, one thinks
to oneself, to be both fleeced and to have an
audience at the said fleecing*

Pausing to think for a moment about
what the salesman said: is it actually
incorrect. Can a computer, actually and
really, do anything? To us experts, of
course, the answer is No, So what, actually,
would a do-anything machine look like?

Rough workings

Now the human brain is, surely the most
do-anything machine in the entire, known
world. While admitting that there are
certain difficulties in explaining exactly
how it works, it is still possible to give a
rough idea. The many thousands of
neurons that make up our thinking engine
are sufficiently similar for an idealised
neuron 10 be taken as a pretty accurate
representation of the whole lot.

Each neuron consists of a cell body out
of which appear lots of little branches
called dendrites and one big branch called
an axon. At the end of the axon there are a
lot more branches sticking out which are
called terminals. These terminals come very
close 10 the little dendrites sticking out of
the cell bodies of other neurons, and
sometimes come close to the actual cell
bodies themselves* The junction between a
terminal and a dendrite is called a synopse.

What happens is this. For some reason
one of the ceil bodies acquires an electrical
charge. When it does so it sends a signal
down the long axon to all the terminals at
its end. When the signal reaches the
terminals they fire the synapses and induce
a corresponding signal in the nearby
dendrites of other cells. As the cell potential
passes a certain threshold it too sends its
Own signal down its own axon to other
neurons. And so the process goes on. Once

started it turns into an avalanche of signals
until the whole brain is humming away
nicely.

You can get a computer to do the same
sort of thing. One bit can represent each cell
body firing or not firing according to
whether it is 0 or 1 . A simple address takes
the place of an axon with terminals out to
the dendrites on other cells. Allow six
terminals to each axon and give one-
byte addressing for each terminal. So,
connected with the bit for the cell body are
six bytes for the terminal address, for other
bits representing other cell bodies.

Pass it on

Now write a short piece of code to allow
for the fact that the electronic neurons are
not self-acting in the same way that real
neurons are. All you need is a loop which
scans through each of the cell-body bits,
reads it, and if it is set to l goes on to read
the terminal addresses associated with it
and sets the cell bits in those addresses to 1
before passing on to read the next cell body
in line.

So far the end result will be that the
system jams solid with every bit set to 1 and
staying there* This is because all of the
electronic synapses are excitatory synapses
— that is, they trigger a cell into action.
Real brains also have inhibitory synapses
which inhibit a cell from triggering* What
your electronic analogue needs is another
bit to go with each of the terminal addresses
to show whether or not it is excitatory or
inhibitory. Now the level of firing varies,
but the whole thing should neither jam
solid nor switch off altogether*

Time slice

Real axons are surrounded by something
called myelin, which insulates it but also
alters the speed of transmission of each
nerve impulse. In a real brain, the cells can
fire or stop firing as soon as they receive the
appropriate signals. In the computer they
have to be read and fired by a scanning
process, which rather upsets the time
picture by introducing an order into the
events which really should not be there.
Each scan should produce an instant slice
of time, and if some synapses are triggered
at different times due to transmission

delays then you want to be able to represent
this somehow or everything will get out of
step. So introduce another bit to go with
each cell bit, which can be either 0 or 1
depending on whether or not transmission
down the axon to the terminals is to be fast
or slow.

For the sake of yet more vensimiltude,
add in another bit for each cell to represent
the threshold level which must be provided
to start each cell firing down its axon. As a
final touch of accuracy the threshold bit
and transmission lime bit can be changed to
bytes to give more variability.

Each neuron then takes up about 2n + 3
bytes, where n is the number of terminals
addressed* That assumes one byte is
enough to hold the terminal address — in
practice two bytes per address might be
better and with, say, six terminals that
gives us 21 bytes per neuron. The control
program will not take up much room, so
48K of memory will give you around 2,340
neurons in the machine.

Now the human brain contains around
10 J neurons, so machine memory size is
going to be a problem. Even adding a 200K
floppy gives you not much more than
10,000 neurons.

Clever snail

Still, all is not lost, A snail or a locust has
between 10,000 and 100,000 in its little head
and, say what you like, but the locust can
fly and even the snail can get about.

So there you have the makings of an
intelligent computer which can do anything
that, say, a snail can do. The real problem
as always, lies in the software — in
particular specifying all those terminal
addreses and whether they should be
excitatory or inhibitory. Somehow the
human brain already has it all built-in, and
it can alter its own threshold values over a
period so that different connections come
into play at appropriate- times.

If you worked out one address for each
of those 10 v neurons every five seconds and
put it in the machine you'd be through the
lot in less than 160 years* Or maybe you
could write a program to do it all For you. It
is an attractive thought certainly, and there
do not seem to be any theoretical problems.
Maybe if 160 programmers worked for a
year without sleep ... Q

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

173

r COMPUTER ... ... REFERENCE ... ...BOOKS 1

COMPUTER GRAPHICS
MARKETPLACE, 1983-84

John Cosentino — Editor
clG2pp paper c£25.95 Dec 1983 0 89774 086 6
Reviews of the first edition included: "The
directory lists, classifies, and describes (US)
manufacturers, consultants and services,
professional organisations, educational
programs, conferences and conventions, and
publications related to the computer graphics
area. The section on manufacturers includes
vital information on each company plus product
description, services, and product
area..., Names and addresses with telephone
numbers of key people in the computer graphics
industry complete the book.” AREA 83

MICROCOMPUTERS: A Planning and
Implementation Guide for Librarians
and Information Professionals

Robert A. Walton

cl04pp paper c£ 14*80 Jan 1984 0 89774 09J 1
Part I covers hardware. Part 11 is devoted to
software and focuses on library applications such
as administration, etc. Part III provides detailed
information on procurement and management of
microcomputer systems.

THE COMPUTER GRAPHICS
GLOSSARY Stuart W. Hubbard
clQ4pp case c£19.60 Feb 1984 0 89774 072 6
Helps every CAD/CAM professional by
■providing convenient access to the special
language that has emerged. The terms fall into
one of two categories. CAD/CAM techology, or
CAD/CAM business. The definitions are
complemented by illustrations, photographs,
and charts.

COMPUTERS AND INFORMATION
PROCESSING WORLD INDEX

cSOOpp case c£38,4G March 1984 0 89774 116 1
This reference work locates and analyses the key
sources throughout the world for information on
computers, computing, and information
processing.

DEVELOPING COMPUTER-BASED
LIBRARY SYSTEMS John Corbin
240pp casebound £23.95 1981 0 91 2700 10 6
"... a useful, detailed guide for librarians
responsible for developing automated systems.
Following a clearly- presented overview of the
systems approach, the author introduces
definitions and topics in a precise and readable
manner. " Journal of Academic Librarianship

To order, or request further information contact:

Clio Distribution Services, 55 St Thomas' Street, Oxford OX1 1JG, U.K.

• Circle No. 207

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professionally produced piece of entertainment,
educational or home management software,
we'd like to hear from you.

Your talents lie in programming and design. Ours
are in marketing and distribution. Together, we
could put your program into homes all over the
world.

So don't waste time.

Call Patricia Mitchell on 01 437 3453

or write to us:

Acquisitions Dept, THORN EMI Software,
5th Floor, Film House, 1 42 Wardour Street
London W1V4PT

174

• Circle No. 205

• Circle No. 253

PRACTICAL COMPUT I MG February 1984

Anglia Computer Centre

88 ST BENEDICTS STREET NORWICH NR2 4AB
TELEX 975201 ACQMP G

SPECIALISTS IN BUSINESS COMPUTERS

BUSINESS COMPUTERS

Phone (0603) 667032/3 or 21117

APPLE, SIRIUS,
OSBORNE, ANADEX,
IBM*, DEC, EPSON.

* Complete with profession el
back-up service*

HOME COMPUTERS

Phone (0603) 26002/667031

BBC, DRAGON,
COMMODORE 64,
SINCLAIR, ORIC, LYNX.

+ On special offer *

Cat! for Price £££

BOOKS AND
STATIONERY CENTRE

Phone (0603) 29652

PROBABLY THE
LARGEST SELECTION
OF COMPUTER BOOKS
!N EAST ANGLIA

ACCESS AND BARCLAYCARD WELCOME

*1BM authorised dealer — ISM Personal Computer

► Circle No. 201

EX-RENTAL
RAIR MICROS

WE HAVE A NUMBER OF EX-
RENTAL MACHINES AVAILABLE
FOR SALE WITH ON-SITE
MAINTENANCE AVAILABLE.

PRICES FROM:

3/20A64K
8MB HARD DISK
3/30A64K
3/30S64K
3/50 256 K

CONTACT:

JULIE HEWITT ON:- (01)-897 3071

HEATHROW HOUSE.
BATH RD.
CRANFOHO
HOUNSLOW
MIDDLESEX TW5 90P

£750

£600

£1750

£2250

£3000

• Circle No. 202

Micro Computer Disks Ltd

Computer supplies for the end-user
LOWEST PRICES FOR HIGHEST QUALITY PRODUCTS

MAXELL FLOPPY DISKS prices from £20.50 per box

DYSAN FLOPPY DISKS prices from £22.50 per box

MEMOREX FLOPPY DISKS prices from £13.50 per box

Ribbons (over 50 varieties in stock)

Multistrike High Capacity Ribbons £1 .95!!

Diablo/Qume Daisywheels only £3.95 each!!

NO MIDDLE MEN! NO FRILLS! STRAIGHT FROM THE WAREHOUSE!

0990 23002/3

M.C.D. LTD 8 DOWER HOUSE, TRUSSHIL, SOUTH ASCOT, BERKSHIRE SL5 9AN

• Circle No. 183

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

175

PLUTO --Colour
Graphics Board

* On-Board 16 Bit Microprocessor

* 64QxS768it Mapped Display

* 192K Of Dual Ported RAM

* Comprehensive

Onboard Software W

CLIMAX-Colour
Graphics Board

* 256x256 Pixel Display

* 16Colours

* Ultra'fastVector&

Character
Generation

* Light Pen Inpur

* UHf Or RGB Outputs

UHF Version

£199

UHF& RGB Version

£220

■Prototyping

GM839-

Board

* Fibreglass PC. B.

* 80-BUS Signal Identification

* High Density 1C FA

Capability IflAflOU

7/ WULTJ0OJ RD COMfV MRS

fj

W0 Gemini Microcomputers

All the boordsand components in the BO-BUS
range are fully compatible and offer a very
flexible and cost effective solution to your
computer needs. For further information about
the 80-BUS range contact your nea rest
MICROVALUE dealer

80 -BUS MULTIBOARDS

GM813-CPU/64K RAM
Board

* 4MHzZ80ACP.a * 64K Dynamic RAM

* RS23 2 Interface * Two 8-Bit I/O Ports

* Cassette interface

* Extended & Edge Addressi ng Modes

* CP/M Compatible
Monitor

£225

GM829-Di$k
Controller Board

* Up To 4 Mixed 5.25 &8 Jr Drives

* SASI Hard Disk Interface

* Singled Double Density Operation

* Singled Double Sided Drive Support

* Supports 48 and £h j| m mm

96 TPI Drives X?l49

GM833-RAM-DISK

Board

* Virtual Disk Operation * 512K Dynamic RAM

* PortMappedFor Easy 1 nterface Softwa re

* Over 10 Ti mes Faster f* M ■■ ^

Than a Floppy Disk

Please note; This board cannot be used as a
conventional RAM board

GM811-CPU Board

* 4 MHz Z60A CPU

$ 4 ‘Byte wide' Memory Sockets

* 2x8’BitlnputfOutput Ports

* 8 Bit Input Port

* RS232 Serial Interface

* Cassette Recorder Interface

£125

GM812-Video
Controller Board

* 8QCharacfersx25 Line Display Format

* On board ZflOA Microprocessor

* Buffered Keyboard Input

* P rog ra m m a b I e Cha ra cte r G en e ra tor

* 160x75Pixei Graphics

* Light Pen input

GM803-EPROM/ROM

Board

* Upto40K of Firmware

* 2708 or 2716 EPROMS

* PageModeOperafions

£65

GM802-64K RAM
Board

* 64K Dynamic RAM

* 4MHz Operation

* RAM Disable Function

* Page Mode Operation

£125

MP826-Static RAM
Board

* 32K Static RAM

* Battery Backup

$ Page Mode Operation

£225

* 61/0 Ports

* 4 Counter/Timer Channels
jft On- Board Peal Time Clock

* Battery Backup

* Further Expansion f

Capability 3# Imv

GM827-87 Key
Keyboard

* User Definable Function Keys

* Numeric Keypad PQC

* C u rso r Cant ro ! Keys 3#Ww

EV814— IEEE488 (GPIB)
Controller

GM816-Multi I/O
Board

* Cost Effective Controller

* Comprehensive Software
Supplied

* Full implementation

* Easy To Use

£140

176

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

MkroValuc - MkroVakic

Power Supplies,
Mother Boards
& Frames

* GM807 3A Power Supply £40.00

*GM817 6A Switch Mode P.3.U. £75.00
*GM843 10A Switch Mode PS. U. £95.00

* GM656 3 Slot Motherboard £5.00

* GM654 5Slot Motherboard £6.00

* GM655 6 Slot Motherboard £10.00

* MPS40 14$lot Motherboard £47.00

* GM662 5 Board Frame £50.00

* GM610 19" Frame £37.50

Gemini
Galaxy 2

"l would place the Galaxy at the
top of my list”

(Computing Today, April 1983)

* Twin Z8Q A Processors

it CPiM2.20perai1ng System

* 80x25Video Display

* 64K Dynamic Ra m
it Light Pen Interface

* upto!6Mhz Disk Capacity

* Serial RS232 Interface

* Parallel Interface
it Numeric Keypad

it Definable Function Keys
it Cassette Interface
it 12" Monitor Included

from £1495

Quantum

System

2000

r

mug

gnm

mjt

Computerise
Without Compromise

^ 80'BUS Construction
it Serial 8t Fdrallel interface

* Stylish Design

* Up To 2.4Mhz Disk Capacity
it Up To Three 5,25“ Drives

it Fully Expandable
it Twi n Z8 0 A P ro cesso rs
it CP/M Operating System
it 64KDynamfcRam

* Definable Function Keys

Two-Drive

Quantum

£1910

Gemini Multinet

TheGemlnl Multinet enablesas many
people as possible to have access to their
own microcomputer with mass storage and
printer facilities for the lowest possi ble cost.
This Is achieved by providing a central
H f|l ©server' fitted with a Winchester hard disk
unit and printer Interfaces, in conjunction
with a method of interconnecting up to
thl rty-one workstations to the tlleserver. The
fileserver and each station are fitted with the
Gemini GM836 network interface board,

A Micropolls 800K floppy diskdriveis
I n co rpo rated i n th e f II eserve r provl ding
backup for the hard disk.

GM910 Go laxy 4 Multinet

5.4 M/byte fileserver £2609

GM912 Go laxy 4 Multinet

10,8 Mf byte fileserver £2350

GM909 Galaxy 4 Multi net

workstation £650

Both files er vers a nd workstations are supplied
complete with VDU's: the operatl ng software
is s u pp l tedwl t h th e f i I es er ve r.

Phoenix ?
PI 2

Monitor

A high quality 12 H data display monitor,
Ideal for Gemini systems. The P12 Is
available in both green and
amberphosphorversionsand
has a resolution of 20Mhz.

BUY FROM THE
COMPUTER
PROFESSIONALS

MICROVALUE

DEALERS:

AMERSHAM, BUCKS

Amersham Computer Centre.

18 Woodslde Road,

Tel: (02403] 22307

BRISTOL

Target Electronics Ltd . , 16 Cherry Lane.
Tel: (0272)421196

EG HAM, SURREY

Electrovalue Ltd.,

28 St. Judes Road, Englefield Green.
Tel: (07843) 3603

LEEDS

Leeds Computer Centre,

55 Wade lane, Merrlon Centre,

Tel: (0532)458877

LONDON W2

Henry's Radio. 404 Edgwore Road.
Tel: 01-402 6822

LONDON SW11

OFF Records,

Computer House, 58 Battersea Rise,
Cla pha m Juncti on.

Tel: 01 223 7730

MANCHESTER M19

EV Computing, 700 Burnage Lane,
Tel: 061-431 4866

NOTTINGHAM

Computeroma. (Skytronics Ltd.)

357 Derby Road,

Tel: (0602) 781742

Telephone orders welcome

AIL prices are exclusive of VAT

MkroValuc

REAL value - from the Professionals

‘ Circle No, 182

177

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

FLOPPY

DISKS

FAST

FREEwith EVERY TEN-PACK
of diskettes from DISKING at
these prices.

The complete DISKING DATA PROCESSING
package

1 - SEE 10 LIBRARY BOX

Value £2.50

** PLUS **

2, DISKWRITER

Value 20p
You may purchase
these separately at
£9.90 for 50 (specify
blue or black ink)

** PLUS **

3 - DISK DIRECTORY

Value 99p

.....

You may purchase
these at 9 . 90 for ten

FREE LORUS GOLD PLATED
QUARTZ WATCH WITH
GENUINE SOLID LEATHER
STRAP

LORUS aie pari of the SEIKO group of companies

MEMOREX

MEMORY EXCELLENT

With their NEW FIVE YEAR WARRANTY
MEMOREX prove once again their reputation
for high quality media. Specify MEMOREX
diskettes and you can be sure of reliable pro-
ducts with specifications far exceeding those
stated on the label.

Verbatim*

* * * FREE * * *

* * * MEMOREX C-90 CASSETTE * * *

A FREE MEMOREX C-90 CASSETTE TAPE
will be packed with every ten -pack of any
MEMOREX diskettes purchased at these
prices. This offer does not affect any other
promotions and is in addition to them. Offer
ends June 30th 1984.

5,25“ DISKETTES
PRICES EXC VAT

10 40 9Q-9Q 100 +

3481 S/S 48 tpi Soil SmI 21.90 20.90 19.90

3491 D/S 48 tip Sof l Sect 27.90 26.90 25.90

3504 S/S 96 tpi Soil Seel 27.90 26.90 25.90

3501 D/S 96 tpi Solt Sect 35,90 34.90 33,90

4B tpi suitable loi 35 or 40 track upeialion
96 tpi suitable for 71 ot 80 [rack operation
10 & 16 Hard Sector available at same prices

DISKING stock around 80,000 of the
world's finest diskettes and normally
ship within FOUR working hours! Whether
you want 1 or 100 ten-packs we ore
waiting.

Call loan or Roger on 0428 722563 any-
time. ACCESS, VISA or DINERS cards
welcome.

rll|t fW ^ . jjrm

Datalife iby Verbatim - With Five
Year Warranty

VERBATIM have not become the World's -favourite
floppy disks by accident. Perfect magnetic media is
their stock in trade, and to prove it they now offer an
unconditional FIVE YEAR warranty on all DATALIFE
products.

55 rt DISKETTES

Certified for single OR double density and with, hub ring
reinforcement.

PRICES EXC VAT 10-40 50-90 100 +

MD52S S/S 48 tpi Soft Sect.. 22.90 21.90 20,90

MD55G D/S 48 tpi Soft Seel 29.90 28.90 27.90

MDS77 S/S 96 I PS Safi Sect 28.90 27.90 26.90

MD557 D/S % tpi Soft Seel 3G.90 3S.90 34.90

48 tpi suitable for 35 or 40 track operation
% tpi suitable loi 77 or 80 track operation
10 & 16 Hard Sector available at same prices

8" DISKETTES

PRICES EXC VAT 10-40 S0-9G 100+

FD34-9000 S/S S/Deus Soft Seci 31*90 30,90 29.90

FD34 8000 S/S D/Dgjuj Soft Sect 31.90 30*90 29.90

0034^001 D/S D/Dens Soil Soci 36.90 35.90 34.90

32 Hard Sector available at same prices

Verex

THE VERBATIM PROMISE AT POPULAR PRICES

5Yr DISKETTES

PRICES EXC VAT

MD20W)| S/S S/Dens. Sail Sect. ,
MD20QAS S/S S/Dens Apple only ..

B” DISKETTES

PRICES EXC VAT

FD34 1500 S/S S/Dem Soft Seel . ..
FD32 1500 S/S S/Dens. 32 Hard Seel,
D034 I 5Q] D/S D/Dens. Soft Sect

10 40 50-90 100+

13.90 18.30 17.90

19.90 18,90 17.90

£2.90 21.90 £0,30

22.90 21.90 £0,90

29.90 25.90 37.90

Order FOUR Tan-packs of any brand of diskettes (5!4”
or 8") using the coupon opposite, or if telephoning
credit card orders mention this ad. At these prices you
will receive a FREE Quartz Watch. Order EIGHT Ten-
packs and you will recieve TWO Quartz Watches and
so on. Please specify when ordering whether you
require Gents oi Ladies models. Offer ends 28th
February 1984,

All free gift offered at any time by
DISKING are subject to availability.

Disking reserves the right to substitue
any similar alternative item or
withdraw the offer without notice.

DISKETTE CARE AND MAILING

m

iTTi\I\M4

ritYJ
LOVJ

PRICES

/ / W\AfV

DISK DRIVE HEAD

CLEANING KITS

The NEW DISKING ‘SUPERMAILER’

only)

WeYe fed up with being asked whether out disk drive
head cleaning kit actually works. So here's the proof; -

’ r i

Part No. DSM

* COPYRIGHT DESIGN - Unlike the resl, this ingenious
mailer has a flute crossing action when folded,
resulting in a virtually unbendable mailer.

Can you really risk that breakdown?

CK5 for SVa’ disk drives, 14,90

CK8 lor 8 J ' disk drives 14,9C

* CAVERNOUS CAPACITY ■ will lake, one,
three or even four diskettes WITH envelopes.

* FULL INSTRUCTIONS - Each DISKING
'SUPERMAILER' is pnnted with full instructions

^PACKED IN 1 00'S ■ For convenience

1 PACK 2 PACKS 3+ PACKS
24,90 22,90 19.90

two.

ATTENTION ALL PRESTEL USERS, SEE US
ON PAGE 2477310 & ORDER DIRECT FROM
YOUR TERMINAL BY CREDIT CARD

DISKING INTERNATIONAL

FREEPOST, LIPHOOK, HANTS GU30 7BR, UK

TELEPHONE (0428) 722563

TELEX 858623 Telbur G or FAX (0252) 721521

■v

DYSAN - For The Decisive

When you think of disks you often think of DYSAN.
DYSAN have the reputation foi TOTAL dependability
whatever The application. They may cost a lillle more
bul data is irreplaceable.

5 1 /*" DISKETTES

Certified ter Single OR Double Density, and all with Hub
Ring reinlorcenient

PRICES EXC VAT 10-40 50-90 1QG+

104/ ID 5/S 48 Lpi Soft Sect 25-90 23-90

104/2D D/5 48 tpi Soft Sect 37.90 36.90 35.90

204/1 D S/3 % it>i Soft Seel 30.90 85.90 34,90

2G4/2D S/S % tpi Soft Sect , 4S.90 45,90 44.90

4B tpi suitable for 35 or 40 track operation
96 tpi suitable for 77 or SO track operation
10 & 16 Hard Sector available at same prices

8" DISKETTES

PRICES EXC VAT 10-40 50-90 100 +

3740/1 S/S S/Dens Soft Sect 30.90 39.90 28.90

3740/ ID S/S D/Dens Soil Sect 37,90 38.90 35,90

3740/2D D S D/Dens Soft Seel 41.90 40.90 39.90

37 i r aid Sector available at same prices

DISKETTE STORAGE

LOCKABLE

DISKETTE
STORAGE

These dnti-stoliCj ABS plpslic dJefcelte storage boxes come in four
sizes, two tor tmm disks and two lor S" disks.

They hove a white base wilh a tianspcrienl smoked lock-able 3id r

and hold 40 oi B0 diskettes

They come complete with keys and dividers

PRICES EXC VAT

M35 40 minidisk capacity 14,30

M85 80 minidisk capacity

18.30

F40 40 fl" diskette capacity
F90 80 8" diskette capacitv

18.90

27.90

LIBRARY BOXES

PRICES EXC VAT

L49

53+

SEE 10 for minidisks ortty. . .

2.50

2.30

1-47

404

8 J LIBRARY BOX

2,50

2.20

(NOT SEE 10 Design)

The new SEE 10 us probably the besl 514" library box
around

^FREE with every ten disb ordered}

soisrv:

3r MICRODISK

-6-

OM-D3320 S/Sided Aato Shutter
(Thr re is no free library box with these yet)

10.40 50 90 100 +

42.90 41.90 40.90

5. 10. IS & 20MB Hard Disks for YOUB
Micro.

<

ZOEBA Portable Microcomputer

-<

Whether Businessman .Programmer or begin-
ner THIS Portable Business Micro is for YOU.
We defy ANYBODY to match it's value
ANYWHERE!

For ONLY . . . £1395*00 EXC VAT (UK dly
free) you can baffle your Bank Manager and
impress your Secretary .

MGRE STORAGE * 800 KBytes on twin 5.26"
floppy disks plus 64 KBytes User Memory.
MORE SCREEN — Compact T Green screen
with full 80 columns by 25 lines means
MORE KEYBOARD — Profes-
sional/detachable Qwerty format, caps & shift
lock & 19 programmable
MORE EXPANDABILITY — Serial/Parallel &
IEEE

MORE SOFTWARE — CP/M 2.2, M 80, L 80,
LIB 80 & CREF 80.

Plus the incredible;- CBASIC, WORDSTAR,
M AIIMERGE & CALCSTAR
Plus COMPATABIUTY SOFTWARE for
reading, writing and formatting ACCESS ,
IBM -PC, KAYPRO, MAX 80, MORROW,
NEC-PC. OSBORNE, SUPERBRAIN,
SYSTEL or OLYMPIA, DEC VT- 180, XEROX,
ZENITH Z90 or Z1Q0 or Double Sided —
AVATAR, CASIO, COLUMBIA, EPSON, HP
125 or 87, IBM-PC, OTRONO, PMC,
SANYO, SUPERBRAIN , SYSTEL,
TELEVIDEO, ZENITH 2100, ZORBRA,

More handbooks including:- CF/M, Zorba,
WordStar, Mailmerge, Calestar AND Begin-
ners Manuals.

Fart No:

We just bought a 20MB sub-system for our micro , to
service the ever increasing number of you lovely
people who keep ordering diskettes, adn were so im-
pressed with the performance, service and price,
that we decided you'd all like one of these magic
boxes. So we now sell them. ^

They come in four sizes, and there's one for YOUR
machine:-

SMB
DS5G5

k 190.00
1290.90

1190.00

1190.00

1390.00

1190.00

1290.00 1390,00

ONE slave may be added at these lower prices
Slaves 990-00 1090.00 1190.00 1290.00

Complete with intelligent controller, host adaptor power
supply unit, ion, cabling, sollware and User Manual .

APPLE 11
IBM -PC
SIRIUS/VICT.
EPSON QX1G
DEC LSI 11
280 System
S100 System

10MB 15MB 20MB
DS51Q DS515 D5520

1290.00 1390.00 1490 00

1390.00 1490.00 1590.00

1390.00 1490.00

1390.00 1490.00

1590.00 1690.00
1390 00 1490.00

1490.00 1590,00

1290.00

1290.00

1490.00

1290.00

is- DtstErrrs

i 2 Flirts each part # 05®
1 b POifti each pack ^

6 V Paeki eoch port £ bti*.
10+ Fact *POSTTREr*

S' DISKETTES

I i Part* «K+I

JS Packv Mfh pjfi & Cl 2Q
&•'} 7':jvfci men pack (?■ ‘Cip

JO+ Fort* *POSTFR£E*

5^ CLEANING KITS

Sfimc postal tote pi papks pS S *
dufciitlM. [0+ POST FULL

ff' CLEANING UTS

Samr pond iota ax par Li r l $

J0+ POST FREE

5W“NEW 'SEE Iff LIBRARY BOXES

SEE IQ ■ 4 atl £ *Op
SEE I Cl 5-9 pH Si 30p

srr io ta+ © top

r LiBHAflY BOXES

L3B L 4 atl Q 60p
LESSOR <5p
tiSH IC+f^l @> JGjj

DISCING SUPERLUXC DISK LIBRARY (5V ONLY|

Sam*, poxtpl rtfli- a* S' ■ dH&BftM |0 + POST FHEI

DCS UNO DISK DEH.LCTQH.rrS
Id-Fart 3 00

DISKING SIJPEFLMAiLTRS (1% QNLYj

I (XI Pack f.'t-mtiUnr «iLh w-uumj

DISKING DESCWMTOtS

50 Part CIOD

LOCKABLE DISKETTE StOBA Qt

AH versions £2.00 each lor one, Cl. 30 each lew 2-7 r 8+ poslhee

NORMAL QRDEKS > W* now MikaaM Oi] atbr >pl Ga-Hmunuil ordwi

r Qfr ntf* lioppv la irccrtH aciy ottewf aid*is w*1*i a ruritiPLim vpEiii- rJ OOCE) h

n ihr undrrxFpndin^

Ciav#.mnv?pt Dcpartm«iflx. Mmixtiarx pckT (^)cd Aulh,-m1u“i I
+iai invpicM. will I*- wilbun lhsilf doyx ot pr*lpfdtitV Itfil plrtJtr

Al l'" rrtalr Ly ypu. p.a/ UT-tri f^ui wltnlEflnC^ «-ilh your il yOa- H)

All ulhi'i pcti iKidits. ctii*3u*1 ■"‘Hh aiJ<r« pl^aw, payabl*- to DISKING II you pic a

Id I (ye i-awbliskiflwnr. U«d curaiol ranertwqu+S «,*CHii| or. ^i¥iiiirr pliMX^ paxl a ux

Ya.Ji ddpp. atpl *n- wiL vrala prp kr-nria jnwtsicjr by irturti, jarycKU OCCmjtiB d<rrKHliTii?fli la pay

AliO b+ai VI miruT. Ihpl y.-Lig <lo havi- la pery VAT w-lSK-h ^ill b- tyit}r*i if lft«*. pneri
It V04 OFr IP any pli-axi. xre Ihi- oni^i limfi an Ihrl blOCh-JFc 1 to bn'p yi>J wllh ypiii

Mli'ukiljpn-,. ir:j tok'phonr nx tor rixxixUmri*

CREDIT CARD ORDERS

Wit HaiclaycoTJ 1 VISA i ii Dinefx bitCFFWlMtoai. <i Ih^rn ix

NO i r.-..lil lpi J iUJChaffl^ Yov mpy wnFi* ypLir c-'iJad Np iWl Tanl <iiLii(j.r nr tHrphnrM- Itvp viiIim
layaiftjqJhl 366 rfays n year You may spttli Iof (K lonq ax- W jLJ ik ir Itnjiifortl kaur Sanaaflps.
ulhtfVi'U- *U* tp.p<"hir.[. thinis ydrtj'v," ijCTvf htrinel anridoHi'1 kwricMp Cii^t llw lot|o-«>ria dftoib
Hi,. ( ' pntbpkl*-i Nphv. Aiidtc^fx and .iay limp ii-lpp%pni: nv*nt»+!

2 Delivery AdidfeU U cl^rr^nl
i r rxr Cktix. tif+inajy ai tpccial paxi
^ YpuJ Clpijn Cofrf NuinN-J

5 Whkfl JOi* wish »p Onit-r

Ya« »i»t !#<™* r»»t to
URGENT ORDERS

31 you'rp pcishrui yc-vr ptdf-r. Cjnil (hp Wild FBL-tPQtST Cinn DUI oiidw,?. <vxi W noimal
po*fcod+ GUJO '%| and rtu not fclrjf-t Fd uJcunp H riRST CLASS El Ttnr m„ a Gqvt-mrapnl body a\
lit&neriitrrclw NORMAL ORDERS' a-id gic sp|opht?*iLn[j your oditioi ordci Of am on indi^luui

LJ carnpony L.xinqYPui clpdrl caurfNa . p:«iw maip iCCiMalhai you wahlopaylorypurviadj IP

bp xpnt ip you by FIRST CLASS POST

nftsr class hates exc vat minidjsks &' DISKETTES

Tuxi TEN PACK 1M

Spcond and sv4)««qu<nl TEN-PACK 1 SO T.Oa

DESPERATE QRDEftfl U JL

Youf aptiowoip PATAPOST Which will dpl.vri Ihpqoc Js wuhiiV dip United Kir-I^damo^i niqhF
i usually twlcffp 30 tun ihs.' n,-isl day! pi.r^,drd ihey u/p ordeipd ond pa>J lai ircrii DISKING by
3 C0 pir. nt F.XPHESSPOST Which. wiO dptisrt fhr -jaacSf shp SAME DAY ptavidr-i [hty «ip
indprcd and pad lef iron DISKING fay 10 30 am. and ptcmdpd ydu ftrw n& Kirthpi POdli Ebon

1-1 one 1^. xlf i

TRpxp wivicrs put qr^ai ^ti p*s on our »alet rxdei piocp*=mq opJ partaqino pannw.r,ix
icOH." Ihflrlofp spate n [hautybr lOI Our qnL-x, and mdkp iUtp Uvol

-1 Thp rrctuirpd good* acp m iiock and

1 A lull (,’ptnplpmeail at EftCVipowpt and wphiClpl aip OH'ditablP al DISKING

TRADE CORNER

Write or call lor our 1984 Trade pack, including our FREE
sample uniabelled diskette.

A Seasonal Message to all our Customers

You'll find our prices good, and our service even better.
Cheaper products you may find, but anyone can advertise
any thin g al a silly price. Just try buying it — it's always nex:t
week! Like car salesman with the new £1000,00 cars, he had
plenty of orders, but he just couitinT get the stock! surprise
surprise.

Our thanks this month go to Alistair who always leaves his
order lor 1000 diskettes until 6.15pm and then wants delivery in
London next morning — A Hapy New Year to him from DISK-
ING, and Jiom our local taxi driver who's getting to know the
route quite well. To ALL our customers both Trade AND End
User, without whom we wouldn't be here:-

* * * A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR * * *
STOP PRESS * STOP PRESS * STOP PRESS *

40Q Brand New, Unlabelled Grey Supervise Disk Libraries (20 minidisk capacity! 31
half price 10 Clear. Minimum order quamhy 10 pieces.

Ody . . 4.90 each. 13,00 PSP per 10 , 30 + FREE!

Ibis offer is open to the trade Oft end users. First come, lirst served.

Order any 4 Ten-packs
of diskettes use this
coupon and you will
receive a FREE Quarts
watch, specify

J

QTY

PART NO.

DESCRIPTION

PRICE EXC VAT

£

£

L£ -

TOTAL GOODS VALUE LXC VAT
TOTAL DELIVERY AND INSURANCE
SUB TOTAL EXC VAT

VAT

VALUE OF CHEQUE PAY ABLE TO DISKING

Name .

_ Tel No; .

Address .

Please charge my credit card No. _

ACCESS. V[SA AND DINERS cards welcome

i Circle No. 204

This man can use...

46 Microcomputers 6 Word Processors
16 Printers 2 Mini Computers

.all without leaving his seat!

Clearway

is a low cost Networking device allowing
ALL minis, micros, printers, mainframes etc.
to communicate with each other.

• From £1 50 per connection (node)

• No control ter needed.

• Easy installation

• Connects any hardware device through an RS232 interface

• Up to 99 nodes on the same ring

• File sharing software available

• Enables printer sharing

• Has special hunting feature

• Other models available

• Over 3000 nodes currently installed

• Manufactured and supported in UK

Mail the coupon now for full information

Real Time Developments Limiled, Lynctiford lynetilord Lane. Famborougli,

Hampshire GUHfkJA. Telephone: FambOfOugh (0252) 546213 Telex: 058893 Betel G

I

l

l

I

l

I

f am interested fn Clearway - the low cost Networking device, please
send me details

Name , . „ .... . ...

Positio it | SL „ ...,

Address

T ele phone . . „ . . || « . . . . . .

Sendto: Real Time Developments

lynchford House. lynchford Lane, Farnborough, Hampshire GU146JA
Telephone: Fa/nbtmugh (0252) 546213 Telex: 556593 Flelel G

I

I

I

I

l

l

• Circle No. 256

254

MAILING
FLOPPY DISKS?

The Swan Disc Pack combines great strength
with simplicity of use. Made from rigid white
corrugated, it is a self assembly package
providing high postal security at
economical rates.

Free sample
ring us on
01-607 9938

sizes;

6x6;

8.75x8,75

preprints!

If you are interested in a particular article/ special
feature or advertisement in this journal

HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT OUR
REPRINT SERVICE!

We offer an excellent, reasonably priced service
working to your own specifications to produce a
valuable and prestigeous addition to your promotional
material, (Minimum order 250 copies).

Telephone Michael Rogers on 01 -661 3487 or
complete and return the form below.

To: Michael Rogers, Practical Computing, Reprint Depart-
ment, Quadrant House, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5 AS.

copies of article/advert.

.. featured in this

issue dated

I am interested in

headed .........

journal on pages

Please send me full details of your reprint service by
return of post.

Name ...

Company * .

Address

— - Tel No ......

180

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

EuroBEEB - basically the best controller

How to make small control systems easy:

1,

2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

10 .

Plug the EuroBEEB ROM and the EuroBEEB power lead into the BBC
Connect the BBC serial port the EuroBEEB serial port
Switch on, and type *TERM, and press return
You now have control of the EuroBEEB through the BBC

You can now write BASIC programs directly into the
battery-backed memory of the EuroBEEB, and upload
or down from it to the BBC disk or cassette

You can program an EPROM, and use it to replace the
CMOS RAM on the EuroBEEB (using COPROM)

You can program a "turnkey" line in the EuroBEEB’s operating
system EPROM so that it runs its program as soon as it is powered up
You can add an enormous range of
CUBE modules through a
backplane, including hi-res colour
video, analog, digital and serial i/o, &
industrial i/o, printers, liquid "
crystal display, etc,,

You can use any RS-423 terminal
instead of the BBC

EuroBEEB, complete with
sideways ROM and cables, costs
only £249, ex, VAT (order code CUU6592)

Send for free
150 page
Catalogue to:-

Control Universal Ltd

Anderson's Court
Newnham Road,

Cambridge CB3 9E2
Tel 0223 358757 Telex 995801

If 21 megabytes of fast storage
with five users and two printers
sounds uselul and £2000 per user
seems unbelievable —give us a call
and ask us to prove it!

We will explain how- your sales
Clerk, accounts clerk, secretary and
you can access your business files
aMhe same time! And there's still
lhat other terminal for expansion!

At COMCEN we make our own
computers Ask our advice —
your alternative may be learning the
hard way!

COMCEN

, . , TECHNOLOGY LTD

A GOMPUPRQ

SYSTEMS

CENTRE

Comcen T edhntstogy Lidt London sales ottice

45/46 Wycftlree Slteel 2nd Floor

Morri&ion Avon House

Swan SA6 BEX 360-366 Ox ford Si .

Tel (0792) 796000 Umlort WIW9HA

(07921 798337 1 24 houri) T&t: 03 ‘491 ‘4636
Idea 48297 Jwtel Tetex 2BSOO LondoF

CompuPro

• Circle No. 209

1

1!

PANASONIC
r MONITORS

£9J

■7

monochrome green screen
high quality and reliability
] genuine 80 character and high
resolution display

RING NOW ON OUR
HOTLINE

0865 726639

• Circle No. 208

• Circle No. 210

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

181

(THE HEU * TO SUCCESSFUL SOFTURRE SOLES)

Earls Court,
London.

June 5-7, 1984

EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE

Certainly the major software event of 1 984 will be Software '84, to be held
for the first time in Central London. Software '84 will be totally dedicated
to professional software sales and will be held from June 5-7, T 984 at
Ea rls Court i n th e centre of Lon don, the I\i ati on s big gest co mmerciaf
market place.

a show could only come from a company that understands the
Reed Exhibitions, the country's largest exhibition
organisers, will be staging Software '84 with all the skill the company has
already brought to the highly successful Compec shows.

Computer Weekly, Software and the National Computing Centre (NCC) will be sponsoring
both the exhibition and the prestigious conference, running at the same time, guaranteeing a high level of interest in
both events. The event has the fuff support of the Computer Services Association (CSA) and The Institute of Data Processing
Management [IDPMj and are co-sponsored by 'Systems International', 'Practical Computing', 'Micro Business' and
'Computer Talk'.

Inevitably, top quality business visitors will be drawn to such a show, with DP professionals, dealers, OEM's and serious
business and professional end-users all visiting the exhibition with nothing but software purchase at the forefront of their minds.

With that kind of captive audience you can't afford not to be a part of this important event. So turn the key to the booming
software market and make Software r 84 the key to successful software sales. The first step is to fill in the coupon below:

Return to: The Exhibition Manager, Software '84, Reed Exhibitions, Surrey House, 1 Throwley Way, Sutton, Surrey SM 1 4GG
1 am interested in exhibiting at 'Software '84'- Please send me full details. Q
I am interested in visiting 'Software '84'- Please send me a visitor registration form. Q
1 am interested in attending 'Software '84' Conference, Please send details, Q

Name Position

Company __ ___

Address

Telephone No _ Telex

EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE

182

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Telephone 01 -661 361 2 to reserve your space

ADVERTISEMENT RATES

£15.00 per single column centimetre (minimum 5 cms x 1 col.)
Series discounts available, details on request.

COPY DATES

4 weeks preceding Publication date.

: GO FORTH & * ;

Laboratory Microsystems FORTH s - the professional
FORTH s complete with editors, assemblers, turnkey
compiler, many system utilities, multi tasking, and
extensive documentation. These FORTHs are available
for 8080, Z80, 8Q86/B8, and 68000 processors using
CPM-80, CFM-86, MSDOS/PCDOS, orCPM-68K.

CPM 80 £60 CPM-86 £105

MSDOS/FCDOS £105 CPM-60K £190
NEW - FORTH + packages have 32 hit stacks and can
access the processor's full address space for both
program and data.

CPM-86dVISDOS/PCDGS £190 CRM 68K £290

Nautilus Systems Cross-compilers — transport FORTH to
different processors, generate ROMmable code, these
compilers wilt run on any of the FORTHs above. The
complete development system - a real time saver.
Choose targets from 8080,8086/88,280.6800,
630 1 76801, 6809. 68000, 1 802, Z8, 9900/98000,
Z8000, LSI- 1 1 . First compiler from £230, additional
targets from £95-

NEW BRAIN FORTH in PROM - includes screen editor,
full integration tu NEWBRA1N r/o handlers, a complete
Z80 assembler, decompiler, utilities and manual - £56
+ VAT EPR0M/RS232 card and comma software also
available,

DRAGON FORTH cartridge — full fig-FQRTH with editor,
colour management, sound facilities, and manual “ £45
+ VAT

??? II! JUPITER ACE DISC CONTROLLER 11! 77? Well ain't
that magic - just add 1 2 volts and a disc drive — 3" , 5" ,
or 8" . Includes full FORTH DOS software. A snip at
£984 VAT. Additional disc utilities £15.

DIV FORTH Kits Installation manual - How to do it,
model, definitions, editor £7
Source code listing for one processor — choose from
6502 6800, 6809, 8080. ZBO, 8086/8088, 9900,
1802, 68000, Z800D, VAX, Apple II. LSI-1 1 , Eclipse £7
Comprehensive range of FORTH books includes —
'Starting FORTH' by Brodie - the classic £ 1 6

'Systems Guide to fig-FORTH' by Ting £26

MJ MICRO

SUPPLIERS

Disks Wabash - Box of Ten

$500 5.25" 15.10

S5SD V

17.90

S$DD

19.16

SSDO

22.33

DSHD

21.60

DSPO

25,10

Samsom Da la Binder

8.5" » 12" ea.

LIS

Disk Storage Bex 5"
ABA30M0

15 00

14.5" * 11" ea.

1.22

m 60/80

22.00

Listing Papar 9.5" *11"
500

2,84

A4 Clean-Edga

500

6.82

moo

5.43

1000

13.02

2000

10,31

2000

24,80

Listing Papar 14.5" *11
500

3.61

Labels 3.5" «1.i J '

1000 tup

5,35

1000

6.91

4000 1 up

20.45

2000

13.18

8000

30.97

All sites of stationery available.

Prices end. PSP and VAT,

FibbOflS-Appfe Peripheral Cards- Disk Drives
Pre- prinied Statiouecy-Casseltes-Prirtiers
For all your supplies, write for lull prices to

MJ MICRO SUPPLIES, FREEPOST (HS3661),
NAUSEA,

BRISTOL BS19 2BR.

No stamp required
Tel: Nailsea (0272) B57354

• Circle No. 217

COLOUR Inlay Cards

Sell your programs with
colour inlay cards and
add that professional
sales appeal from as little
as £28 per 1,000.
A.W.P, are the specialist
trade odour printers for
both Audio and Com-
puter cassette inlay
cards. They are produced
in two types the deluxe
finish |min. 1,000) and
the standard finish (min.
8 , 000 ).

• Circle No. 215

POOLS PREDICTION

' POOLSWINNERS"

Hie most sophisticaied Pools. Freds lion AkUvaiable. Gms prDba&4ii«5 ol
score draws, draws, hmnes Or aw? VS, based on two databases IwWfog fiver
20'QQD matches SrJuJed]-

Tte databases are automatically updaied as resits are entered.

Can 1* used n sinpte mode, or wilh parameter ad|ustmenis to dev^op your
awn unique forecast meitud.

Fdfy documented, ara4abfe now fs Apple Sprelrum |40K), Oregon, 2X81
(1BK), BBC Model B, Cwnmodore 64 loiters - pfesse mqiirel.

E16-D0 Idiscsjlapes]

"POOLSDATA"

Complete neL-pn! q! al English Rwtijai League matches 1973 83. TeSnS,
scones and dales of 10,000 matches held in sinple format, ready lor your
anaFysis. Starter analysis programs and fiA doamnartalim indbded. JWalabte
for Apple. Spectrum, ZX81, BBC, Dragon, Corrwnodwe series.

Discs lb yes] £15.00

Tapes 15 year) El 2.50 all prices

Taps 12 y**1 £1.70 ip&p mdudedf

SELEC SOFTWARE (PC)

37 Councilor Larve,
Che ad la, Cheshire
061-428 7425

• Circle No. 216

Details and samples from A.W.P. Ltd. 5 Bexley
Squ., Salford, Manchester, 061832 4533.

The Trade Colour Printers

• Circle No. 218

rT THE i

'showroom 1
for all the
I leading
k micros J

asy parking off the M5B (junc 12) 1 VIC 20 ■ VIC 64
00C micros * Newhraln 1 Acorn Atom * Books
Apple 1 1e, I IT ' Dragon * Electron * Games
Sinclair Spectrum

Secondhand computers 1 EASY PAYMENTS _
ALL ACCESSORIES SALES AND SERVICE ' *

northern Churchfield Road, *

B3asr;«»-

. TEL: FRODSHAM (0928) 35110

WEWJ(.LPUHCHA5£iNDPiieU5H VOURPflOCflAMS CaUSwe Rhodes UvifeliiO

• Circle No. 219

HAVE YOU
CONSIDERED
BAR CODES

Bar-codes give a speedy
and ernar free means of
dara entry end provide a
foolproof method of
identification for any
item or document. Typical uses include stock control,
libraries, filing systems, security & checkpoint verifica-
tion, point of sate terminals, spare pans identificalton,
etc, etc. Already most grocery products are bar coded
at source and many other areas of industry and com-
merce are following. Bar-codes will soon be
commonplace.

APPLE 2 PET BBC micro

A complete low cost bar-code identification system is
available for these micros. It contains all the hardware,
software and documentation needed to read and print
bar-codes (using an Epson dot matrix printer). Most
bar-code formats may be read and the system may
easily be patched into an existing applications
program.

£199.00 + VAT

*** NEW *** RS232 bar-code reader

This new stand-alone unit decodes the bar-code and
converts it into ASCII for transmission to the host
computer via a R5232 port. Complete with scanning
wand, power supply & cables. Works with virtually
any computer,

£385.00 + VAT

More information on these products is available on re-
quest. Please state your micro & area of interest- The
decoder board Is available separately to OEMs.

DOT MATRIX & DAISYWHEEL PRINTERS
LOWEST PRICES GUARANTEED!

EPSON FX80 RX80
NEC 8023 STAR
SHtNWA CPBO
BROTHER TEC
etc. etc. etc.

Our pricing policy is
tq match or better any*
other advertiser. In addition
enthusiastic and knowledgeable technical
advice and backup is available to all our
customers. Delivery is from stock to your door, r often
within 24 hours. Phone for a quote or write for full
lists,

ALTEK (PC) 1 GREEN LANE
WALTON ON THAMES SUR REY
please phone before calling V (U

(0932)244110 C. \ 1

FX80

APPLE CARDS

AT INCREDIBLE PRICES!

RAM Card 16k £34.50

RAM Card 128k £151.95

80-Column Card £46.95

Z-80 Card £37,95

PAL Colour Card £29.95

EPROM Writer £41.50

Talking Card £25,95

Drive Controller Card £25.95

Prices include air postage to U.K.
COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATES
Dept. PC, GPQ Box 7779, Hong Kong

► Circle No. 220

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

183

CHATTERBOX II ' can say anyihingl

Genuine phoneme synthesis - not just recorded
speech - hence unlimited vocabulary.
Programmable pilch for more natural intonalion
(exclusive lo Wm Stuart Systems)- solid lone
cabinet for quality sound - integral beep music
amplifier. PLUS expansion socket for BIG EARS
voice recognition system. Full instructions
technical notes and software supplied with this
outstanding educational unit.

DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME

Ass&P” Jr_ aaCTV'-ComfUjler Programme"

*BIG EARS*

SPEECH
INPUT
FOR ANY
COMPUTER

Hugely succcsslul Speech Regniliipn System,
oompleie with microphone, software and Ml
instructions.

BUILT TESTED & GUARANTEED
PLEASE 5TAT E COM PUTE R . U K 1 0 1 .

SPECTRUM, ATOM, NASCOM2. Vic 20. Micron,

ZXW 61 . PET. TRS50. MZ0OK. APPLE II. BBC MICRO

ONLY £49

ZX81 SPECTRUM

MUSIC SYNTHESISER
-16 LINE CONTROL PORT

PJay3-pan muse, sound effect, drums -ale. Full
control of aliack. docay and frequency.
Inpui'Guipui lines provide control and monitor
facility for Homo Security. Robot ConinoJ, Mode;
Railway elc. etc. Works wilb orwitiwut 16K RAM

Full insiruclions softwaire included.

Add keyboard to mane a live (wrlorcnaoM
polyphonic synjh-eSisOrl

AMAZING VALUE
AT ONLY

Note op lo 3 units Can bo used .simultaneously: El 9. 50 (wt>

"ig 9 m usic channels & 46 I a lines

giving 9

£25-50 (BUILT]

1 Circle No. 221

KINGSLEY

ENTERPRISES

Mailorder Discs
Prices are for bones of id discs

Soft Bee lor

hlaitiua XiUfM

S 25“ Oiskertes

Oysan

SSfSD 4&

15 00

22.D0

SS/DD 40

1 ? 00

1900

3300

DS/OO 4B

19 00

24 00

31.00

SS/OD 96

24 00

2500

3200

□S.'-DD 90

2S0O

31 00

8" Diskettes

40 00

S5rSO40

20 00

2600

SS^OD 48

21 .00

2300

3000

DSJDO 4H

22. DO

2? 00

3500

Scrjy 3 0"

§

i

'3

i

3500
31 «
35.00
4000

And carnage Id per Don} and V AT. (15%)
Prices correct at time of going to press
Please Write lor full’ range pneo list

KINGSLEY ENTERPRISES
87 Whitefieid Road
Stockton Heath
Warrington
WA4 6«B

184

• Circle No. 222

<u

u

£

'S

ITj

<8

(INCOMPLETE RECORDS/

NOMINAL LEDGER PLUS {1RNLP1
frniihed account? from incomplete record?. Full
nominal ledger, running tosaliof all debtors,
creditors. Stock and capital assets. Weekly and
quarterly cash, tank, VAT and nominal accounts
summaries. Detailed profit and loss and balance
sheet. Comprehensive manual.

IHNLP Single Disc Sanyo MBC 1000/1150 $7-50
Ifi N LP Single Disc BBC B 27.50

I RN LP Single D i sc T R S BD 27 50

IRN LP Cassette 48K TRS 80/GElNfE 27.50

•SPECIAL OFFERS *

SCRIPT S3 with manual Dragon $2 9.50

MAILBAG With manual Dragon 32/BBC B 3-00
DRAWER with manual Video Genie &.9§

POKER BBC B 4 - 99

Dealer enquiries welcome, SNAIL SOFTWARE,

21 Belt Lane, Ludlow, Shropshire, SYS 1BN.
Telephone (05B4I 4303,

• Circle No. 223

SCIENTIFIC SUBROUTINE
LIBRARY

VOLUME l — STATISTICS AND FITTING
FUNCTIONS

Mean, SD, normal distribution, partial expecLaiion,
Chauvgneta criterion, least squares flc to polynominal
and arbitrary function, repetitive least squares fits,
covariance matrix, ehi-squared statistic, matrix
inversion, solution of simultaneous equations.

VOLUME 2 — LINEAR PROGRAMMING
Reduction of a Simplex tableau, integer
programming, partial integer programming,
conversational linear programming system, least cost
mix problem.

VOLUME 3 - FURTHER STATISTICS
Ranking, quantiles, frequency, 2-way table,
correlation coefficient, T, chi-squared and F
distributions and their inverses, T test, chi-squared
test, Wile ox son test, linear and multiple regression,
ANOVA 1 -way and 2- way,

VOLUME A - TRANSFORMATIONS &
SORTING ALGORITHMS
Fourier, FFT, Laplace, numerical integration and
differentiation. Exchange sort, Quicksort, Shell sort,
Tree sort.

Manuals including fit it source listings with
Wplmefttatfon notes ami documentation —

BASIC £25 per volume
PASCAL £31) per volume
Software in CP/M <r SSSD) or DEC RT-U
(RXOl) formats — £75 + VAT per volume,
CP/M TO DEC FILE TRANSKR
Software to read and write Rill format RXOl
diskettes under CP/M, Supplied on SSSD diskette
- £25 + VAT,

MICRO LOGIC CONSULTANTS LTD.
57, Station Rd,, Southwater, Horsham,
W. Sussex.

Telephone: 0403 731818

' Circle No. 224

DBASE II

ON SITE TRAINING

Phone Mike Gardner on

01-421 0266

cats

software

96 Gnmsdyke Road,
Hatch End Pinner
Middx HA5 4PW

* Circle No. 225

NEWBURY DATA PRINTERS

8510 from £480.00

1550 from £600,00

are, what other printers want to be
Continuous Stationary 1000 SHTS

I 1 x 9f plain £5,25

11x9} plain (zip margins) £6. 00

II x 14J plain/lined £7.00

Min, Quantity = 1 Box (2,000 sheets)

Contact Chris Pearce
CDP Consultants Ud.

Wicken Rd. r Clavering, Essex CB1 1 4QT.
(079985 617)

SOFTWARE

For simple bookkeeping & VAT record;-
Designed for small business & the self
employed. A simple to use program
combining sates cash book and
purchase day book, included VAT
calculation and analysis can be printed
If required

For Apple II 48K Disc £9.99 inc.

For Spectrum 48K Tape £7,99 inc.

JADE TRADING

409 ILFORD LANE. ILFORD. ESSEX

■ Circle No. 227

MICROCOMPUTER INSURANCE

Comprehensive cover at a reasonable

premium:

• All Risks Cover tincl. Transit) — up
to £8,000 for £20

• Increased Cost of Working — to
reinstate lost data

• Breakdown & Derangement —
alternative to maintenance agree-
ment

Write with details of equipment to ;

Geoffrey Hood I ess & Associates

Freepost (no stamp required)

Woking

Surrey GU21 3BR

Teh. Woking (04862) 61082 (24 hrs}

• Circle No. 228

ZORBA

THE SERIOUS PERSONS PORTABLE
PLUS

LUCAS LOGIC LX80
The Low Cost SOcps Printer
{A great Patterns hip)

ADD

DBASEII

The Most Powerful Micro Database
(Now the system is complete!!

And you can take it anywere
Deliveries are Immediate

Contact Chris Pearce
CDP Consultants Ltds
Wicken Rd., Clavering, Essex. CB11 4QT
(0799 85} 617

• Circle No. 229

A

Js POSEIDON
'/ COMPUTER
SERVICES LTD.

Of Hampton S.W. London Dealer

I OR SIRIUS 1 Al’RICOT & PULSAR

COMPETITIVE PRICES — FULL UK DELIVERY
Bei poke St /'ware and Consultant y
0! 941 1447/5986 TELEX 8954665 GITS

C1F

mo

FOB

EXPOR T/IMPOR T SPECIALISTS
FOR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
AND SOFTWARE

POSEIDON COMPUTER SERVICES LTD
i 01 941 1447/5986 TELEX 8954665 GITS

’ Circle No. 226

• Circle No. 230

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

Superbrain Z80

100K CP/M

Software: MBASIC5, WORDMASTER etc.
New Drives & Power Supply

£1000 o.n.o.

TANDY TRS80

Level II 32K

Individual numeric key pad. Two micropolis
disc drives 5} 100K + . Centronics printer
707 missing wire in printer head Software.
£675.00 o.n.o.

Mr Wright 01-852-7507
after 6pm 01-467-3742

• Circle No. 231

DISK COPYING SERVICE

Moving data and program files from
one machine to another is often
made difficult because different
manufacturers have adopted
different disk format standards.

We can copy your files to and from
almost any disk format including
CP/M, MSDOS, PCDOS, TRSDQS, ISIS,
APPLE, SIRIUS, PDPll, VAX, and IBM.

Disks are normally despatched on the
day they are received.

Our charge is £10.00 + disk + VAT.
Special prices for quantities
and tape to disk transfers.

For more information call us.

GREY MATTER

1 4 Prigg Meadow, Ashburton, Devon TQ13 7DF

TEL (0364)53499 I

• Circle No. 232

ATARI OWNERS

Send for details on how to obtain

FREE SOFTWARE

and an exciting new CP/M
add on for the ATARI 400/800

Send large SAE to;

TOLLGATE COMPUTERS LTD
Dept PCI , 35 CLAYDOWN WAY
LUTON, BEDS. LU1 4DU

• Circle No. 233

8032 PET with 2023 printer £600 Robert
Chrismas Gosport (0705) 526950 evenings.

ALTOS 8000/2 64K Ram twin 8" double den-
sity discs 1 mega bites — Soror IQ120 VDU
and OKI80 printer all in perfect working
order. Integrated purchase/Nominal ledger.
Wordprocessing, Cobol, Games £1500.00.
Tel. 01-460 0284 Daytime.

TRS80 compatible video genie plus expan-
sion interface and software for sale £250
ono ’phone 0829-40569.

BBC to EPSON FX-80 High-Res. Screen-
dump. Listing: £2.00 send to 55 Ballycrune
Road, Hillsborough Co. Down.

TRS-80 MDI 48K two 40TR drives new
DOS80 LDOS manuals plus software incl.
games and business programs. Value £500
total cost £750 ono. Tel. 0702-587210
evenings.

APPLE SOFTWARE - Send SAE for full
list. Business, utilities, games available. J.
Davey, 44 Hazelmere Road, Stevenage,
Herts.!

TEC 10/40 daisywheel printer unused £900
ono. Phoenix Hi-Res green screen monitor
£60 ono. Exchange W.H.Y. Tel. 0268 285406
evenings.

EXCHANGE unused Hitachi VT14E v ideo in

unopened carton, value £500 plus, for
BBC-B with accessories. 0525 221187.

TRS-80/1 48K disk programmes. Data writer
£70, forbidden city £15, Balrog £15, also
smal-LDOS £30, Defend £10, Jovian £10,
Colin Erith 38298 after 6.00pm.

NORTHSTAR HORIZON 32K GT100A VDU
excellent condition with about 200 DID flop-
py disks £1125 also Epson MX100 £300. For-
rester Tel. Plymouth 0752 29638 (491960
evenings).

AMDEK DXY100 Plotter A3 size programme
in Basic, brochure available, cost £699
£299! As new works with any computer,
warran ty. Taylor 0245^352490.

TELEVIDEO (1983) TS802H 10 MBYTE
Microcomputer, Wordstar, Mailmerge,
Datastar, Calcstar, Spellstar, Supersoft,
Bstam, DBase2, CBasic, MBasic, Cobal,
Pascal, PL/1, List over £8,000 accept £3,800
plus VAT. Telephone 01-486 1670 anytime.

BUSINESS SOFTWARE for the Newbrain
Computer Invoice & Credit Note; Cash
Book; Purchase Day Book; Sales Day Book.
Full Details & Sample Output from: Cornix-
Micro, 16 Kneesworth Street, Royston,
Herts. Tel: Royston (0763) 46065.

SHARPMZ-80B Software sale including
many useful adapted CP/M utilities. En-
quiries Peter Philips GP0 7849 Hong Kong.

TELEVIDEO (1983) TS802H 10 MByte
Microcomputer, Wordstar, Mailmerge,
Datastar, Calcstar, Spellstar, Supersort,
BStam, DBase2, CBasic, MBasic, Cobal,
Pascal, PL/1 , List over £8,000 accept £3,800
plus VAT. Telephone 01-486 1670 anytime.

WANTED NASCOM 2 or 3 preferably with
disc controller and Zeap (0272) 518597

lulMy^iSESoRDER FORM -2Sp per word

Micro Ads are accepted from PRIVATE readers only and must be submitted on (or a photocopy of) the order
form below. All advertisements must be PRE PAID — Help our typesetter to help you by PRINTING your
advertisement clearly. Please make cheques or postal orders payable to 'PRACTICAL COMPUTING' and
enclose it with your advertisement to Room 317a, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.

£ 2.50

£ 3.75

£ 5.00

£ 6.25

£ 7.50

£ 8.25

£ 9.50

£ 10.75

NOTE; Advertisements will be published in the next
available issue and we cannot guarantee to print
an advertisement in any specific issue .

■

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

185

DATA DJSK LTD.

Data Disk Ltd.

67, Swan Street
Boxford
Suffolk 0787 210091

COMPARE OUR PRICES

PRINTERS

The New "JUKI" 61 0 Daisywheel
(RRPE399 + VAT)

JUST ARRIVED

Our own brand of covers
for the Commodore 20, 64 &
the B,B,C,/V computer €3.95
+ VAT Colours black or beige.

The small Company
with the big name
in consumables

OUR PRICE

ONLY £375 + VAT

"Free Delivery" No Extras

Ourown brand of disk binders
with a capacity of 20 €3.95
+ VAT Colours black or beige.

ALL CARRIAGE FREE

Floppy Disks by BASF

5 Single Sided/Single Density - £15.00 for 10 + VAT
Single Stded/ Double Density = £22.00 for 10 + VAT
Double Sided/Double Density - €24,00 for 10 + VAT
ET Disks and Quad Density also available
5 j M Plastic Library Cases £2,75 + VAT each

NEW FROM FRANCE!

LIBRARY CASES IN BROWN /CREAM.

5i“ 20 -Capacity - £2,80 + VAT

8" 25 -Capacity = £5.75 + VAT

Lockable Filing Cases with carrying handle Brown/Cream

forSJ" disks x 1 00 capacity ONLY £18.50 + VAT

Other lockable filing cases;

5i" 40 Capacity = £15,50 + VAT
5T 90 Capacity - £21.95 + VAT
8" 40 -Capacity = £22.95 + VAT
8" 90 -Capacity - £31.95 + VAT

EPSON RX-BO
{RRP £298.00 + VAT)

EPSON RX-80 FP

OKI MICRO LINE 83a =
OKI MICRQLINE 80a =

Contact us for all your computer needs. Anything from
ribbons, listing paper, labels, disks, printers etc. etc.

Everything on mail order, enquire for our comprehensive
price lists.

* Free delivery on all printers and disks*

Nominal charge for all other ranges.

EPSON FXBO OUR PRICE

(RRP £438,00 + VAT) ONLY £42 5 .00 including VAT.

"Free Delivery' 1 No Extras.

OUR PRICE

ONLY £2 8 5,00 including VAT
"Free Delivery" No Extras
OUR PRICE

ONLY £31 5.00 including VAT
"Free Delivery" No Extras,

£5 25.00 including VAT
£225,00 including VAT
LISTING PAPER

1 r X9J" Single pt - £9,60 + VAT per box of 2000
1 r x 14J" Single pt = £12,40 + VAT per box of 2000
All other sizes available. Either plain or green lined.

To Data Disk.

Please Supply ...........................

Please Supply ... .......

Please Supply .......... ..

Please Supply ................. .

Enclosed my cheque/money order Total

Delivery to:- (Name) ............. ,

Address

Telephone No ......................... — ....

Trade and Dealer Enquiries Welcomed, More Agents Urgently
Needed Nationwide.

♦ Circle No. 245

Advertisement Index

A

D

A&G Computerware

60

DBG Business Systems

134,135

A-Line Computer Systems

98

Data Disk

186

ACT Pulsar

62,63

Dennison KybeCorp

IFC

ADP

175

Digital Equip Co.

38,39,40

ATA

117

DigithurstLtd

153

AWS Computer Supplies

58

Direct Disk Supplies

93

Act Hardware

46,47

Disk Direct

144

Ac u lab Ltd

69

Disking International

178,179

Akhter Instruments

76

Diskotek

157

Anglia Computer Centre

175

Dynotech Microsoftware

151

A sco Business

60

B

BFI/Diskpost

Barley Mow Workspace
Beebug

163

58

97,124

E

EpsonHX20

Epson Printer

EpsonQXI 0

12

120

48

British Data Capture

6

British Micro

125

Bromcom

54,55

F

Ferranti

126,127

Fox&Geller

136

0

C/WP Services

1 51,153

Fraser Assoc.

98

CAE Teleprinter

56

COP Consultants

169

CLIO Press

174

G

Caico Software

167

GCC Cambridge Ltd

148

Cambridge Comp Consults

79

GW Computers

30,31

Cambridge Micro Electric

60

Camden Computers

116

Chi Item Electronics

22

H

Hal Computers

Com cen T echn olo gy
Compsoft Ltd

181

1 7

97

Com pu tech Systems

45

Hotel Micro Systems

142,143

ComputerFair

125

Computer Interface Design

169

ComputerT rade Show

ISO

1

Computer Town

158,159

IBC Computer Systems

114

Com share

122,123

iTLKathrnill Ltd

33

Control Universal

181

Icarus Computer Systems

85

Growth er Cosine

32

Intec

61

Cyber Robotics Ltd

116

Interam

170

186

K

Q

Keele Codes Ltd

32

Qubie

53

Gudos Systems Ltd

148

L

LSI Computers Ltd

Lantech

10,11

69

R

Real Time Developments

180

Laser bug

114

Research Machines

181

Lomax

172

London Computer Centre

44.124

S

London Computer Fair

154

SM Software

25

Sage Systems

171

Sanyo Marubeni

18,19

M

Sanyo Marubeni

BC

Mannesman Tally

128

S a pph ire Sy stems

133,166

Mayfair Micros

114

Sirton Computer Systems

16

Me mote ch

26,27,28

Soft Option

59

Micro Peripherals

IBC

Software 8 4

182

Micro Research Ltd

168

Software Ltd

73

Mi c r oc om pu te r Produ ct s

14

Swan Packaging

98,180

Microcomputer Disks

175

Micropacs

172

T t

168

Microsoft

20

Tan data

Microtrend

141

Tandy Corp

9

Micro value

176,177

Tashkl Computers

160

Micro ware Ltd

57

Teledigital Computers

36

Midland Computer Fair

115

Thorn EMJ

174

Mountaindene

3m Data

172

42,43

U

U Micro

69

Q

OKI Electric

147

V

VerelcoLtd

97

Oasis Software

Opus Supplies

167

41

Verwood Systems

174

Oxford Computer Systems

58

W

Wordflow Elec Office

32

P

Page PJ us

24

X

37

Pete & Pam Computers

164,165

X-Data

Pinner Wordpro

168

Power Testing (sales)

167

Z

Precision Software

34

Zero Electronics

116

PRACTICAL COMPUTING February 1984

star

GEMINI and DELTA , a new range of Star Performers - the
idea / complement to any computer system. At prices starting
from £219 + VAT, the GEMINI and DELTA open up a new
world of printing power - quiet, fast printing in a range of
different character types, print pitches and print densities
and ultra high resolution graphics and programmable down-
loadable characters for good measure.

GEMINI and DELTA - professional solutions to the printer
problem.

KEY FEATURES:

★ 120 CPS (Gemini), 160 CPS + 8K buffer (Delta)

★ Friction, tractor and roll feed

★ Ultra high resolution graphics

★ Normal, expanded and condensed print

★ Emphasized and double strike print

★ Superscripts end subscripts

★ True underlining

★ italics and international characters

★ Downloadable character set

★ Interface — Gemini (parallel). Delta (parallel & RS232)

★ Full one year parts and labour warranty

IDiao . ..
Peripheral/ ltd

THE POWER BEHIND THE PRINTED WORD*
69The Street, Basing, Basingstoke, Hants. RG24 OB Y
Tel: 0256 3232 (12 lines} Telex: 859669 IVUCROP G

Calf your local dealer now for full information on the GEMINI and
DELTA printers or clip this coupon and we'll send you brochures
and print samples.

Name „

Address..

.Tel. No, .

m Circle No. 246

THIS YEARWiLLBE AS IMPORTANT

tothe Computer industryAs
i959msTDTHE Motor Industry

1959 saw a revolutionary development in the evolution of the motor car that shook the industry The
launch of the Mini.

Twenty five years later, Sanyo are set to cause a similar stir in the world of computers with the launch of
the first ever Small Business Micro. The Sanyo MBC 550. The first machine of its kind to offer the performance,
compatibility and range of software of a true business micro for just £699* * Which is
considerably less than the cheapest business micro.

So if your business requirements are too great for a personal computer and j

you cant justify the expense of a business micro, phone Logitek on 0257-426644, or
STC on 0279-26777 or ICARUS on 01-485 5574 or clip the coupon and well show you
the Sanyo MBC 550 or the more powerful twin drive Sanyo 555, two revolutionary
new micros that mean business. H

fame

Address

Position in Company

Raurn to* Marketing Dept, Sanyo Marubeni (UK) Lid, Sanyo House. K Crcycainc Road. Watford, Hera.

• Circle No. 247